Trapped Inside Your Broken World
by RLD Flame-point Callie-co
Summary: Vamps of Gangland sequel. Life in the underworld takes its toll on Bella's sanity, and she ends up with an evil alter-ego who sides with Jacob. Can Edward bring back the Bella he loves? Even if he does, will things ever be the same between them?
1. Preface: Waking Up to Nightmares

**A/N: Here it is, the long-awaited (well, you've been waiting about 24 hours; that's ****sort of**** a long time) sequel to Crime and Vampirism! Before starting the story I have a few warnings to dish out for everything I plan to put in here that might possibly offend or disturb anyone. So, things to beware of: twisted plot, cliffhangers, some serious OOC moments, violence, some language, possible character death, and mental disorders.**

_**Preface: Waking Up to Nightmares**_

**POV: Edward**

If I didn't have over a decade of evidence that vampires were incapable of sleep, I could have sworn that this was all a nightmare, because how could it possibly be real? It couldn't be; but somehow it was.

Oddly, the overwhelming sense of horror that had me paralyzed had nothing to do with the fact that Jacob Black and his pack would be dismembering me shortly; I could easily have escaped from the pack, if every particle of my mind was not focused on her.

"Hold up for a minute," she instructed in her flat, dead voice. "I guarantee he isn't going to put up a fight."

She stalked toward me, the steel-covered toes of her boots rasping where they scraped across the wooden floor, and smiled. It was meant to be a cold smile, but I could see the insanity blazing in her eyes like a flame seen through a semi-transparent screen.

I wanted to close my eyes, look away- anything other than see that she was truly insane, because it was my fault. The warped, evil person she had become, all the innocent people she had killed, Bella – all my fault. Of all the terrible things I had done, this was the worst.

She scowled; she didn't like me trying not to look at her. She gripped under my chin and forced me to meet her burning gaze. "You hurt me, Edward," she hissed. "You hurt me and I think you should pay for it."

"I'm paying for it already," I told her.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot; Bella, right? Yes, I suppose you are. Still, I need to be sure you won't cause me any more trouble. I'm sorry, Edward, but you just have to go." She backed away, toward Black, and draped herself over his shoulder.

"I'll always love you," she said; then she broke eye contact with me and looked at the wolves behind me. "Kill him."

**A/N: I'm sorry this is only a teaser; I wanted to do more but I have homework. I'll try to get a real chapter up later tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, tell me what you think! I love to hear from you.**


	2. I'm So Sick

**A/N: This entire story is dedicated to the wonderful readers who have already taken an interest in it despite the pitiful shortness of the preface, and to my way-too-perceptive (aka brilliant) mom, who figured out what the story was about in two seconds. No, you may not ask my mom what's going to happen.**

**Quote that inspired me for this story: "[Bella,] you've been trying to keep up with the supernatural for too long. No normal person can do it." –Jacob Black, ****Breaking Dawn**

_**Chapter 1: I'm So Sick **_

**POV: Bella**

"Bella? Are you awake, love?"

"I'm awake," I replied, but didn't open my eyes; sensing that I was not about to get up, Edward lay down beside me and wrapped his arms around me. I turned my head to press my forehead against his cheek – partly as a gesture of affection, but also because my head hurt and his icy skin worked very well as a cold compress.

After a minute or two he lifted his head and stared down at me intensely. "Bella, please open your eyes and look at me."

"What is it?" I grumbled as I reluctantly complied, and winced as the soft reflected light from his skin hit my retinas and caused my brain to throb extra-hard.

"Bella, I am concerned about you; ever since we arrived in Paris, you have seemed…" he paused to search for the right word, "withdrawn… depressed, perhaps. Is something wrong?"

"No," I said quickly.

"Bella, please be honest with me. Tell me what is really on your mind."

I raised my head and grinned halfheartedly. "Since when do you need to be told what's on my mind?"

Edward merely raised an eyebrow, letting me know that my attempt at distraction wasn't working. I sighed. "All right, if you really want to know, I have a killer headache. And I can't take any more Tylenol for another half hour," I added, anticipating his offer to fetch it for me.

To my relief, he accepted my explanation without question. "I'm sorry you're in pain," he murmured, again pressing his face to mine.

"'S not so bad; not right now, anyway." I snuggled closer and closed my eyes as if I was going to take a nap. "Stay with me," I mumbled to Edward.

"I am not going anywhere, love," he promised. I was relieved to hear that. I mean, if Edward left it would kind of make my being here pointless…

I guess I should explain. See, Edward and I weren't in Paris for a vacation; we were here because Charlie Swan, my father, happened to be the head of law enforcement in the United States, and Edward, my boyfriend/true love, happened to be a criminal. Well, technically he worked as an assassin for another vampire named Jasper, who was the real criminal mastermind, but that didn't matter.

What did matter was that two weeks ago, I had been kidnapped by Jacob Black and his gang of werewolves, who held a grudge against the vampire coven, specifically Edward. Of course Edward had rushed off to rescue me, but unfortunately he had been in such a hurry that he'd forgotten the usual vampire rule of thumb- cover your tracks.

Once Charlie had been alerted to my disappearance, he'd begun investigating, found the note Jacob left telling Edward where to find me, and from then on out everything pretty much fit into a hand-basket and went to a really hot place.

Bottom line: after discovering that Edward was a vampire and that I was irrevocably in love with him, Charlie agreed not to expose him and to try to bury his sketchy history with human law. Of course, that task couldn't be done overnight even if you were the head of the Department of Defense, and Edward had to leave the country until Charlie accomplished it.

Because I couldn't stand to be separated from Edward for an indefinite period of time, I went with him, and I didn't regret it one bit – at least that's what I kept telling myself. I was always careful with my thoughts when he was within telepathic hearing range, but after the sun set and he left to hunt, I carefully examined how I felt after approximately half a month of fugitive life.

Did I still love Edward enough that I was willing to relinquish my old, normal life to be with him? The answer was an unequivocal yes; I would go to hell and back for Edward, and simply going to Europe was a comparatively small thing. Was it difficult to do regardless? Again, yes.

I would rather have had needles jammed under my fingernails than admit this to Edward, but I missed my parents, especially Charlie, who had always been my solid source of parental guidance, my shoulder to cry on…

_Stop it, Bella! You have Edward for that stuff now. Okay, so he's not Dad, but he loves me, and it would hurt him if he knew… not that I'm sorry I stayed with him, exactly, because I'm not, but that there are… things I miss from my old life that he can't give me. _

Sounds crazy, right? My old life hadn't been so great, after all, filled as it was with things like schoolwork, backstabbing gossip girls for 'friends', and a painfully average guy for a boyfriend; a guy I had never been able to muster any real passion for, a guy who had never excited me the way Edward did. But boring as he had been, Mike was reliable; he was predictable, safe.

Edward was anything but predictable, and even though I would trust him with my life (and had before) I couldn't kid myself that there was anything particularly safe about him… These thoughts were still swirling around in my brain as I punched my pillow into a more comfortable shape, rolled over and fell into an uneasy sleep filled with disturbing dreams…

_We were driving through some French town, and Edward was going over the speed limit, __again__; I should have been used to it by now, but there was something different this time. Maybe he was driving even faster than usual, or maybe it was because this car had no seat belts, air bags, or anything for me to hold onto, but I was absolutely terrified._

_"Edward, please slow down," I squeaked out._

_He looked at me like I'd grown an extra head. "Why would I do that? I always drive like this; besides, nothing is going to happen. Calm down, Bella."_

_"Don't tell me nothing's going to happen! We're going to crash!"_

_As if my thinking it had caused it to happen, we __did__ crash – I didn't know what we hit; I only felt a sudden impact hit the front of the car, and felt myself fly forward thanks to the lack of safety restraints… felt a shard of the shattered windshield pierce my skull…_

… and sat bolt upright, cold sweat trickling over my skin, dampening my hair and plastering Edward's T-shirt to my body. As I moved, I realized that one part of the dream had been real- the nauseating pain in my head, as if I really had had a piece of glass shoved into my brain – it was even worse than the headache I'd had earlier.

I dashed to the bathroom and reached the toilet just in time. Ugh, now I had the sour taste of vomit in my mouth to accompany the pulsing throb in my head. I hauled myself to my feet, grabbed the Tylenol from this afternoon, and popped the pills down my throat as fast as I could; I then slumped forward over the countertop and massaged my forehead while I waited for the medicine to take effect.

I didn't notice Edward's return until he scooped me up and carried me back to bed. This time he didn't curl up with me; he just leaned over me and stared intently into my face. "Another headache, Bella?" he finally asked.

"Yeah." It seemed pointless to lie – he knew me too well, and I was too exhausted to be convincing anyway.

Edward frowned. "Bella, I won't pretend to be an expert on this sort of thing, but it seems to me that you're having far too many of these headaches. I think you may need to see a doctor-"

My eyes flew open. "No, I don't want to. What's a doctor going to do anyway, other than give me painkillers (which I already have) and stick needles in me?" I shuddered. "Forget that. I'm fine."

He shook his head a little. "You don't look fine to me; you look ill, and I can't stand seeing you this way. Please, Bella, I only want to be certain that there is nothing seriously wrong with you."

I looked up into his butterscotch-colored eyes and saw that he really was worried; I tried to soften my tone as I answered. "Can we talk about this more in the morning? I'm really tired, and I want to sleep now. And I want you to quit worrying." I stretched up to give him a kiss, which he returned, but I could tell that he was still tense, anxious.

As I settled into my sleeping position for the rest of the night, I wondered if maybe he had good reason to be anxious. I'd never had very bad migraines before, and what headaches I did have were never this frequent, or severe enough to make me throw up. But surely there couldn't be anything serious happening to me… right?

**A/N: I was going to rewrite this chapter because I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but then Mom read it and said it looked good to her, so I decided to leave it as is; tell me your thoughts, please. I promise to write faster if you do.**


	3. Breaking Down

**A/N: Okay, while re-reading my past two chapters, I realized I ****never did a disclaimer****!! That's unacceptable, people, and I can't believe none of you called me on it. Seriously, do you want me to get sued or something? You know, if I lose everything (including my computer) in a lawsuit, I won't be able to write anymore. Anyway, here it is: I DO NOT AND NEVER HAVE OWNED TWILIGHT, blah, blah, blah. Now on with the story.**

_**Chapter 2: Breaking Down **_

**POV: Bella**

When I woke up Edward was sitting on the side of the bed watching me, and I was willing to bet he had been there all night. "You know, watching someone sleep is kind of creepy," I mock-scolded him.

His expression didn't lighten even for a second. "Are you ready to continue our conversation now?" he asked, as if no time had passed since he suggested I see a doctor.

I groaned; this was one of the really annoying things about vampires: they never needed to sleep, and they had such good memories that they could make an elephant look like an Alzheimer's patient! "Fine, if you insist-"

"I do."

"Of course you do. I still say I don't need a doctor; there is nothing wrong with me, Edward."

He looked unconvinced. "How can you be sure? As I said last night, I don't think you having so many headaches is normal-"

His persistence irritated me, and I snapped back without thinking about what I was saying. "Oh, well, if you don't think it's normal then it must not be; but what do you know about what's normal for a human, anyway? Like you said last night, you're no expert, so why don't you just back off?!"

Edward drew back as if I'd slapped him. "All right," he said tonelessly, "I will." He got up and headed for the door without a backward glance.

I bit my lip to keep from calling after him, demanding that he come back; I hadn't meant to say anything so mean – I didn't really know where the sudden burst of anger that had caused those things to come out of my mouth had come from, and now that it was gone I felt horrible – but that didn't erase the fact that I had snapped at Edward and told him to back off. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to talk to me for a while now, and if he wanted to get away from me I wouldn't force him to stay.

Grinding my teeth in frustration, I went to the bathroom to retrieve my cell phone, which I had left on the counter by the Tylenol. _At least my head doesn't ache anymore- not right now anyway. _I picked up the phone, figuring I should call Charlie while I felt all right – he didn't need to hear from me when all I could manage was a pained moan, and I really needed someone to talk to.

Charlie picked up on the first ring. "Hi, Bells; how you doing, kid?"

I felt relief wash through me at the sound of Dad's voice. "Honestly, Dad, I've been better," I confessed; I had to be honest, because one of the conditions of our agreement was that in exchange for him keeping the vampires' existence a secret, I could never lie or hide anything from him again.

"What's wrong? Has Cullen tried to bite you?" Charlie asked tersely.

I laughed and tried to keep the note of hysteria out of it. Edward hurt me- ha! "No, no, nothing like that, and I told you to quit worrying about that. It's just that I've been feeling kind of under the weather lately, and-"

"Oh Lord, you're pregnant, aren't you?" he exploded. **(That just seemed like such a Charlie thing to say that I couldn't resist!) **

"Dad!" I squealed. "No, of course not! In the first place, I don't know if that's even possible, what with the, um, species difference between me and Edward; in the second place, he and I haven't… you know, we've never… um…"

"Okay, okay, you don't need to say anymore!" Charlie exclaimed. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions; I just worry about you, that's all."

I rolled my eyes- he'd never worried about me before, and it would be just my luck for him to start now. "Wow, I can't imagine why you'd be worried about me," I said sarcastically. "Just because I've run off to France (you know, the country where you can get snails in a restaurant, and no one even freaks out about it), and I'm with my boyfriend, who's a vampire, and we have absolutely no parental supervision…"

"Bella, stop right there before I get on a plane to France and drag you home so I can ground you for the rest of the year," Charlie growled. "Now, you said you've been feeling under the weather; are you sick? You haven't eaten any of those snails, have you?"

"No, I haven't, and my problem isn't anything food poisoning-like; it's that I keep getting these migraines – really bad ones, like the kind where you have to lie down for hours. And they've been keeping me up at night, and then this morning, I don't really know what happened, but all of a sudden I got really upset and I- I- snapped at Edward and he left!" Shockingly, I felt tears start to run down my face.

"WHAT?! He left you alone, in France?!"

"No, he's coming back – at least I think he's coming back – but that's not the point, Dad. The point is that I can't believe I would talk to him like that! All right, I did call him an asshole one time, but that was right after I found out he was a vampire, so then I had a reason to be upset! This time… I just don't know what got into me."

"I bet I do; you've had too much to deal with in too short a time, and stress can do funny things to people's minds. I'd say you have a perfectly good reason to be upset this time, too. So, what did you call him this time?"

I chuckled weakly; this was just Dad's way of trying to lighten the mood, and I had to give him credit for trying even if it wasn't exactly working. "I didn't call him anything; we were arguing about whether or not I should see a doctor because of my headaches, and I told him to back off. Then he said 'all right, I will' and left; that's all there is to it, I promise."

"Well that's not so bad; it sounds to me like he overreacted. He shouldn't have left you by yourself when you're sick."

I jumped to Edward's defense. "He didn't overreact, Dad; I was being mean. And a migraine or two doesn't make me 'sick'!"

"All right, all right, I'm sorry. But are you sure you're really okay, Bella?"

"I- yeah, I'm- everything's fine; like you said, it's just stress. That and- and I miss you. I wish you were here, you know?"

"I know, Bells, and I wish I could be there; but even if I were to try to get some time off it would be a week or two before I could see you. You understand that, right?"

"Of course I understand. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have bothered you."

"You're not bothering me, Bella," Charlie said sternly. "If you need to talk, you can call me anytime, got it?"

"Yeah, fine; look, I have to go, I think Edward's back. Bye, Dad." I hung up, realizing that I was crying again. _I'm making a mess of everything today. First I make Edward mad, and now I've lied to Charlie, even though I promised I wouldn't… serves him right though… sure he's busy, but I really need him… I need something to hold onto…_

I needed something to hold onto because the room was spinning, so fast it made my head start to throb again. The floor seemed to tilt under me, and I stumbled forward, catching myself on the cabinet, and looked into the mirror. It was cracking, splitting into fragments… I reached out and my fingers met smooth, unbroken glass – and I realized that the mirror wasn't breaking at all; instead, it was my face that was falling apart… I was breaking…

**POV: Edward**

I hadn't wanted to leave, but I wouldn't press my company on Bella if she didn't want me around; and yet I didn't seem to know what to do with myself after leaving her. I wandered aimlessly through downtown Paris, paying absolutely no attention to my surroundings and most likely bumping into several people, and finally sat down somewhere.

For once I barely noticed the thoughts of the people around me, because I was too engrossed in my own – arguing with myself. I had no desire to return to the hotel room while Bella was angry with me, but a nagging voice in the back of my mind said that she wasn't well and I should not have left her alone.

_But she said she's fine; and she was right, what do I know about human health issues? Nothing. Even if there __is__ something wrong with her, I can't do anything about it, unless I forcibly drag her to a doctor's office. I will if her condition worsens; I don't care how furious she gets…_

My thoughts were interrupted by someone gripping my arm and shaking me. I looked up and saw a teenage girl staring at me, evidently concerned. From the look on her face, I guessed that she had been trying to get my attention for over a minute while I sat lost in thought and completely oblivious.

Realizing that she had my attention, the girl blushed and stammered something incomprehensible, but from her thoughts I gathered that when I had ignored her, she had assumed I didn't understand French, tried to speak English, and become extremely flustered when I finally noticed her, resulting in the stuttered mix of both languages that had just come out of her mouth- also that she intended to flirt with me, which I was definitely not in the mood for.

I stood up so quickly that I nearly knocked my chair over, and the girl asked in faltering English if I was all right. _Idiot, do I look all right? _"Je vais bien; laissez-moi tranquille*****," I snapped, and hurried away, walking faster than was wise in a street full of humans.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out without so much as breaking stride. "What is it?"

Alice answered, but for once she didn't chastise me for snapping at her. "Edward, you're going back to your hotel, aren't you?" she asked in a tense, worried tone.

"I haven't decided yet." _You would have seen it if I had, would you not? _

"Well, you need to; I just saw Bella, and I think she's in trouble!"

I snapped the phone shut and bolted at full vampire speed; what did it matter if a few humans saw me fade into a blur before their eyes when Bella needed help? Reaching the hotel took less than a minute, and once there I didn't even bother pulling out the key to Bella's and my room; I simply put my fist through the door and yanked the handle out.

"Bella? Bella, what's happened; are you hurt?" Her scent was everywhere, making it harder than usual to locate her, but I soon tracked her to the bathroom; she was lying on the floor as if she had fallen, unconscious and bleeding from a shallow cut on her forehead.

As I felt for her pulse, her eyelids fluttered open and she stared at me, her eyes glazed and unfocused. "Bella? Thank heaven you're awake. Does anything hurt, other than your head?"

She blinked and shook her head slightly as if she didn't understand me. "I don't- where am I? I can't remember… who are you?"

**A/N: *This was the translation for 'I'm fine; leave me alone' that I found online; I know there's probably a better way of saying it, but I only ever took Spanish classes, so I was stuck with the online dictionary- **_**lo siento mucho, mis amigos**_**! **


	4. Random Bites

**A/N: When writing this chapter, I thought of a few different things that I wanted to happen, but making them all fit into the same chapter was hard; that's why this is broken up into three parts, and that's why it's called random bites, because it's made up of all the random bites of stuff that I wanted to get done but couldn't stick together, OK? Hope this way of doing it doesn't bug you too much!**

_**Chapter 3: Random Bites**_

_**Part One: Safe and Sane?**_

**POV: Bella**

I gave my head a quick shake to clear it; I must have dozed off after talking to Dad, and no wonder- I'd taken enough Tylenol in the last couple of days to kill an elephant! At least it seemed to have finally paid off, since my head didn't hurt anymore.

Gradually, I became aware that I wasn't alone; Edward was back and on the phone – arguing, from the sound of it. Wanting to see him, I got off the bed and made my way to the bedroom of our suite. Finally, Edward finished his conversation (of which I understood not a word, since he was speaking rapid French) and slammed the phone back into its cradle.

"Is everything all right?" I asked, taking a hesitant step toward him. He was at my side in an instant.

"Bella, what are you doing in here?" He put an arm around my waist and pulled me close so that I was leaning against him.

"Listen, Edward, I'm so sorry about snapping at you earlier; I don't know what got into me. I guess it was just because I didn't get much sleep last night-"

"Never mind that; let's just get you back to bed." He swept my legs out from under me, carried me back to the bed, and sat beside me, still holding me. I suddenly realized that there was something odd about his grip on me- it wasn't affectionate, it was the sort of hold one would have on a person who needed support to stay upright.

"Hey, Edward – what's wrong?" I pulled away slightly so I could see his expression; he seemed very worried about something.

"Of course I am worried, Bella," he said, his tone clipped. "How could I not be, after coming back to find you passed out on the floor? Bella, I cannot say how sorry I am for leaving you alone, and I promise I will never-"

I held up a finger to silence him. "Wait a minute; what are you talking about? I never passed out on the floor; I just called my dad and then lay back down, and I guess I must have fallen asleep…"

Edward stared at me like I was crazy. "You did not go back to bed, Bella," he contradicted me. "When I came in, you were lying unconscious on the bathroom floor, and when you woke up you seemed to have no idea where you were – you didn't even know who I was!"

"What? Of course I know who you are, silly." I stretched up to kiss him, but he held me back.

"You didn't then," he insisted. "I've just made an appointment for you to see a neurologist, and Bella, please don't fight me on this if you value my sanity."

I had half a mind to argue, but I could see that he really was worried about me, so I sighed in resignation and said, "All right, I'll go, if that's what it takes to keep you sane."

For an answer, he pulled me close again and kissed my forehead. "Thank you, Bella; see, being reasonable is not so hard."

My visit to the doctor wasn't as bad as I'd feared- I didn't get one needle poked in me. I did have to sit through a couple of CT scans (which, weirdly enough, turned up nothing), and then the doctor asked if I had experienced any severe stress recently.

Edward told him that we had just relocated here from the U.S. and that I was having trouble adjusting; the doctor said that of course being in a new country counted as a stressful experience, and I should just try to relax and rest for a while and I would probably feel better, but that I should come back if my symptoms persisted or worsened.

"That was not so bad, was it?" Edward asked as we left the doctor's office.

"Not so bad," I echoed. "Looks like all I have to do is avoid stress for a while – how hard can that be?"

_**Part Two: Pretty Dang Hard**_

**POV: Bella**

One Week Later

The sunlight that painted the inside of my eyelids red seemed out of place; it felt like I had gone to bed only minutes ago. I started to roll over, intending to stuff my head under my pillow, but collided with Edward. "Are you finally waking up?" he asked. "That's a relief; I was beginning to worry that you had slipped into a coma."

I groaned and opened my eyes a slit, blinking in the bright light. "What time is it?"

"A quarter past two in the afternoon," Edward informed me.

"What? No way; I don't sleep that late," I protested; but when I checked the clock, it agreed with Edward. _That's weird; how could I have slept so long and still feel tired? _Although I would have liked to go back to sleep, I decided I'd better get up before Edward got worried and dragged me to another doctor.

After I got dressed and got my cereal, I joined Edward in front of the TV, where he was watching the local news. I didn't understand a word of it, but from the reporter's somber and tense expression, I gathered that the news du jour was something grim.

Suddenly I felt Edward stiffen beside me. "What's wrong?" I asked.

He shushed me and leaned forward, listening intently. Finally, the reporter disappeared and was replaced by a garden furniture commercial featuring an overly perky woman whose frozen-in-place smile was almost certainly the product of numerous Botox treatments. Edward quickly hit the mute button and then stared unseeingly at the screen in the motionless statue-pose of a deeply stressed vampire.

"What's wrong, Edward? Edward? Yoo-hoo, Edward; come in please." I waved my hand in front of his face until he snapped back into the present. "What was in that news report?"

"Oh, nothing you need to be concerned about," he answered evasively. Well, I wasn't having that.

"Oh no you don't; whatever it was bothered you enough that you were in frozen statue mode for a minute. Now, tell me exactly what the reporter said." I backed up the demand with a mental nudge, and Edward grimaced- he hated it when I used mind-control on him.

"Fine, if you insist; a body was discovered this morning – the victim of a brutal murder."

My eyes widened. Brutal murder? That was disturbing, but… "You're a vampire assassin; since when do human murders upset you?"

"That's the thing, Bella; I am quite certain that this was not a human murder. The body was burned, incinerated – to the point where the coroner was unable to find any blood left in it. He was, however, able to determine that the cause of death was severe neck wounds." Edward raised his eyebrows in a 'see what you can make of that' gesture.

I turned over what he had said in my mind. "Died of a severe neck wound… badly burned, so that there was no blood left… but maybe the blood was drained pre- burning, and that was just done to disguise it? You mean… a vampire did this? Is that what you're saying?" My voice was a horrified whisper.

Edward's was grim. "That is exactly what I am saying. This was not the work of an amateur either; as you pointed out, the culprit was clever enough to immolate the body in order to explain away the absence of blood.

But they couldn't cover up the bites; the report said the victim's throat was literally torn apart…" He trailed off, wincing a little; sure, he killed when he had to, but he was never unnecessarily cruel about it.

I took his hand and squeezed it hard. Maybe something of the terror I felt came through in my touch, because Edward pulled me onto his lap, wrapping me in a protective embrace. I gratefully pressed my face into his chest; I couldn't say why, but the news of a vampire murderer in the city sent a chilling fear down my spine, as if the danger was somehow aimed at me.

"Who could be doing this?" I asked, though I didn't expect Edward to know; how could he?

Sure enough, he replied, "I don't know who; but whoever it is, he or she is highly intelligent, devious – and vicious."

I shuddered.

_**Part Three: You Can Run, but You Can't Hide**_

**POV: Jacob**

A lot of the guys thought reading the paper was a waste of time; who gave a flip what the everyday human world was up to, anyway? Still, once in a while the paper did print something useful, though it was probably an accident. And this report of a vampire attack in France was very useful.

"You really think it's him, Jake?" Brady asked skeptically.

"I can't be 100% sure, but I think there's a very good chance it is," I answered. "Look at the facts: the vamp behind this attack is obviously new in town, since they've never had anything like this happen before, and I'd say Paris is as good a place as any for Cullen to go when he's trying to fly under the radar – in France, he and Swan will look like just another couple of tourists."

"That makes sense," Embry admitted, "but doesn't it seem kinda careless for the bloodsucker to leave the body someplace where it was found inside of a couple days? Whatever else you can say about Cullen, he's not careless; he wouldn't have lasted long if he was."

I shook my head. "Vampires don't think like that. When covering up their crimes, they don't care if someone finds the body; all they care about is that they're never linked to it and that the V word never comes up in the investigation."

Paul snorted. "They don't have to try very frikkin' hard to cover up the vampire aspect, do they? All they need is some cheap trick to explain away the drained blood and voila, it's just the work of a random psycho."

Everyone nodded, and I caught a few mutters about how things were way too easy for the leeches these days, since no one believed they existed anymore. I grinned; the guys were gearing up for a fight. I had to admit, I sort of hoped Cullen was geared up too, because if it was over too fast I just wouldn't get as much satisfaction from flushing his ashes down the toilet.


	5. Turn Up the Tension

**A/N: This is one of the angstier chapters (actually, this whole story is turning out to have more angst than I anticipated; I might have to change the genre); and there's a nightmare scene that may be disturbing to some people. Be warned: if you creep out easily, don't make reading the Bella POV part the last thing you do before going to bed. If you don't creep out easily, read and enjoy (and review)!**

_**Chapter 4: Turn Up the Tension**_

**POV: Edward**

Over the next five days, the vampire behind the attack on the news struck again, this time killing a woman and two men and dumping their charred remains in the parking lot of a grocery store. I was utterly at a loss to explain this sort of behavior- the killer, whoever it was, could not be described as careless, because no one was able to find anything that could possibly lead to him or her; and yet, leaving the victims' bodies where they were sure to be found was uncommonly reckless for a vampire.

When Bella asked what could lead to such recklessness, the best answer I could give her was that this vampire must enjoy the terror caused by the discovery of his or her victims' mutilated corpses. She didn't answer, but her face turned a shade paler; and she was already much paler than she used to be.

Bella seemed to be profoundly disturbed by the Incinerator, as the media had dubbed the killer; ever since the murders started, she hadn't slept well, and when I asked her why not she replied that she had nightmares. She never would tell me exactly what happened in her dreams, and I hadn't attempted to read her mind to see for myself- it was an unspoken rule of our relationship that we not use our powers on each other unless it was absolutely necessary.

Looking at her now, though, I was starting to believe it was necessary. Bella's face was nearly as bloodless as mine, except for the dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was in disarray after yet another restless night.

Her phone rang and she put down her mug of coffee to answer. "Hello? Hey, Dad. Really? That sounds great… I'll meet you there, okay? Thank you so much. See you soon; love you."

I tried not to eavesdrop on her conversation, but I couldn't help overhearing her end. What was this about meeting her father? Had she been so thoroughly frightened by the murders that she'd decided to go home, or was he coming here to see her? I would understand if she wanted to go home, but if she brought him here instead… that would be very bad.

When Bella hung up, I asked as nonchalantly as possible, "Was that Charlie?"

She rolled her eyes. "Cut the crap, Edward; I know perfectly well that you heard every bit of what I said. Yes, that was Charlie, and he's coming here for a few days. Remember how I talked to him almost two weeks ago and told him I hadn't been feeling so great? Well, he just now got to take some time off so he could be with me. That's not a problem, is it?" she asked anxiously.

I frowned; the honest answer was yes- with a renegade vampire loose, adding Agent Swan into the mix would only complicate matters. Of secondary importance, during our brief meeting I had gotten the distinct impression that Charlie rather disliked me, so our next meeting could be postponed forever as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately, this was one situation in which I apparently did not have forever.

Bella searched my face for some clue as to how I took the news of her father's imminent arrival, then said quietly, "if having him here is going to be a big problem, I could always tell him to stay home. It's hard for him to take any vacation time anyway, so it might be easier for him and you both if he didn't come."

She lowered her gaze to the table and fidgeted with her mug, turning it around in circles as she waited to hear what I wanted her to do. _Well, this is a prickly predicament. On the one hand, I would prefer not to have to deal with Charlie Swan on top of everything else. On the other hand, Bella looks so worn out, and I haven't been able to do one damn thing to make her feel better; maybe having her father with her would help. In any case, I have no right to keep the man from visiting his daughter. I suppose there's only one thing I can do._

"When will he arrive?"

Bella smiled, obviously relieved by the lack of argument. "He'll be here tomorrow, and he'll stay in the suite's other bedroom since you don't need it; although while he's here, you should probably stay out of my room too. I don't want Dad to have an aneurism, and that's what'll probably happen if you don't."

I agreed with her on that count.

33 Hours Later

Bella decided that it would be best for her to meet Charlie without me, but the thought of her driving to the airport alone worried me – in the first place, I didn't want her going anywhere unprotected as long as the vampire (whose identity was still a mystery to me, much to my frustration) was in the area, and in the second place, she seemed so tired that I didn't completely trust her not to fall asleep and crash her car.

Finally, we agreed that I would drive her to the airport and leave before Charlie arrived, then he would drive to the restaurant where they would have lunch. "At least this way he'll understand why you aren't here; I told him that vampires find human food really disgusting."

"Which gives your story the added benefit of being true. Enjoy your time alone with Charlie; I will see you soon."

"Yeah, really soon, since you're going to be keeping an eye on me every minute that I'm out on the streets of downtown Paris – they're so dangerous these days."

"I thought I was the mind-reader here?" I teased.

"Oh, I didn't read your mind," Bella assured me with a mischievous grin. "I just know you. I'll see you later." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss me goodbye, then left for the gate where Charlie would disembark from his plane.

I stayed where I was and scanned the thoughts of the people surrounding Bella in order to keep watch on her; she had been right when she guessed that I would.

Bella reached the correct gate and met Charlie without incident, and I breathed a sigh of relief even though I hadn't really expected anything to happen in the middle of a crowded airport and in broad daylight, no less. Still, with Bella's luck I never knew what to expect.

She and Charlie collected his suitcase from the baggage claim and headed for the car, and I followed on foot as they drove into town; mostly I wanted to be certain that Bella was safe, but I had to admit (to myself if not to her) that I wanted to get an idea of how much hostility I should expect from Charlie.

**POV: Charlie**

_Thank goodness the flight's over; I don't think I could have taken another minute of that woman next to me jabbering in my ear! Now, where's Bella? _I scanned the people waiting at the gate and spotted a girl who turned out to be Bella, but she looked different from my last memory of her – and not in a good way.

She was a bit thinner, but the most drastic difference was in her face: she was pale as a sheet and had deep purple shadows under her eyes, but there was more than that; maybe it was her expression, but I got a feeling that she had downplayed how stressed she was when I called her. When I hugged her, she locked her arms around me and clung in a way she hadn't since she was five and had nightmares about monsters in her closet.

"Normally, I would say 'it's good to see you', but I can't honestly say it is good to see you like this, Bella. What's happened to you? Is it Cullen? How come he's not here, anyway? If he's run off and left you again-"

"No, Dad, Edward hasn't done anything to me; in fact, he would have come with me, except that I told him I wanted you to myself for a while. Now come on, we should get your stuff."

_If that's not an evasion tactic, I don't know what is. And she says Cullen hasn't done anything to her, huh? Well, I guess I can't say he has unless I see bite marks on her neck, but I'm sure as shit going to keep an eye on him __whenever__ he decides to show his sorry face._

During lunch, I tried to get Bella to tell me what was getting her down, but all she would say was that she'd been having nightmares.

"What are they about?" I asked.

She pressed her lips into a tight, thin line, and I knew she was deliberating what to tell me. "It's hard to talk about; I just…" She broke off and buried her face in her hands, rubbing her forehead like she was trying to scrub her dreams out of her brain.

"They really scare you, don't they?"

She looked up, chagrined. "Is it that obvious?"

Hell yes, it was obvious! She was my daughter, after all; of course I could tell when she was frightened. She should have known that, so I just crossed my arms and gave her a stern look.

She sighed and said, "all right; yes, these dreams really scare the living daylights out of me. Sometimes it's so bad I don't want to go to sleep, because when I do I see…" She trailed off and shook her head, unable to continue.

I felt terrible; I had let her stay with Cullen because I thought it was the best thing for her, but look what had happened! Bella looked like she'd joined the ranks of the living dead in the month and a half since she'd left the U.S.! Worse, I didn't know what to make of the things she had or hadn't said. She insisted that Cullen had nothing to do with the shape she was in, but what else besides having a vampire for a boyfriend could be responsible for her nightmares and the hunted animal look in her eyes?

_Still, _I reminded myself, _Bella's always had good common sense. If Cullen __had__ done anything to her, she wouldn't stay with him, and she wouldn't lie to me about it. And it is a little unfair to start blaming him for things when he's not here to defend himself; innocent until proven guilty, right?_

Bella leaned forward and gripped my arm hard. "Dad… do me a favor, and don't tell Edward what I said about being really scared, okay? I've tried not to show it around him; he already feels bad about me leaving home for him – I think he thinks that's why I've been going to pieces lately. I can't stand for him to get any more worried about me, okay?"

I promised not to say anything to Cullen just to make her feel better, but it wasn't a promise I intended to keep. Bella clearly couldn't take any more interrogation, but I knew there was something going on that she wasn't telling me; and if she wouldn't, I'd just have to wring it out of Cullen instead.

**POV: Bella**

I was relieved when night fell and Charlie and I went back to the hotel; at least Edward would be there, and he could divert some of Charlie's attention from me. _Thank goodness, because I don't know how much longer I could be alone with Dad and not tell him everything. _

It went against the grain to not talk about my problems with Charlie, but I really didn't want him to know about the vampire murders. He was already uncomfortable enough with the fact that vampires existed, and if he found out that there was one in this city killing humans for fun, I wouldn't put it past him to drag me onto the first plane home and say I was never allowed to associate with any vampires (including Edward) again, and I couldn't have that.

More than that, I didn't want anyone to know about the dreams I had had since the murders began, because I was fairly certain that having these things in my head was a sign of mental illness. Where else would such gruesome nightmares come from? The information in the news wasn't enough to put these images in my head…

It felt almost like my subconscious was trying to warn me about something, but I had no clue what, unless maybe it was that this vampire would eventually hunt me. But of course that was highly unlikely with Edward's protection, so I was stumped.

The time between returning to the hotel and my bedtime seemed to rush past on fast forward, until finally Charlie and Edward both said I looked too exhausted to stay up any longer and all but shoved me into my room; they both stayed in the TV room.

I gulped; I hated being alone in my room, as if there was something in my bed waiting to bite me. But no, the only dangerous things were in my head. _Please, please don't let me have any dreams tonight, _I thought as I lay down. My eyes shut almost against my will, and for a while I simply floated through a meaningless dreamscape of gray and black.

_When the gray and black solidified, it flowed into the image of a narrow alley at night – almost the exact setting from my first encounter with Edward. Almost, but not quite the same, because that night I had run until I crashed into Edward; this time, I stumbled, no, __tripped over something__, and fell._

_I groped for the thing my foot had caught on, and my fingers met something with the texture of badly burnt toast; little charred flakes came off and stuck to my fingertips. 'This is odd. Did some homeless person have a fire here earlier?' I took a closer look- and recoiled, gasping in horror._

_The object I had tripped over was a body, a corpse burned until the skin was gone and nothing was left but the muscle tissue stretched over the blackened bones. That and the eyes – the person's eyes were still intact in the skull, dead and glazed but somehow still managing to look like they were staring right at me!_

_I lurched to my feet and backed away, but something nudged the back of my legs. Slowly, I turned around and saw another body behind me! Looking past it, I saw that the whole alley, both behind and in front of me, was filled with them; I was alone among the dead, and there was nowhere for me to run._

_'No, no this can't be happening, please no…' I dropped to my knees and covered my face to block out the horrifying sight._

_'But it is happening, Bella. You can't stop it, and you will __never__ escape it.' The voice came from behind me, a new addition to the nightmare that had worn me down over the last few days. The worst part of all was that there was something horribly familiar about the voice, like I had heard it somewhere during my waking hours. Was it someone I knew…?_

_Usually this was where I would wake up, but this time, instead of releasing me, the dream skipped ahead. Now I was standing, and the dark figure the voice belonged to was kneeling where I had been. Suddenly, the figure stood and walked away, and I was able to see what it had been bending over._

_It was a new body, but not just any body – mine! I was staring at my own corpse, my lifeless eyes gazing back at me. As I stood frozen by fear, the skin melted off my face, leaving the skull bare and grinning. But on closer inspection I saw that it wasn't really bare; my skull was covered in crawling, wriggling maggots, and a snake slithered out through my now-empty eye socket! _

I jolted awake to the sound of my own screams – and thought I felt something move underneath my sheets! Jerking away, I tumbled out of bed at the exact moment the door was smashed open.

"Bella! Bella, what is it?! Tell me what happened!" Edward gripped my shoulders hard as he waited for my response, but I could only shake my head soundlessly; there were no words for how terrified I was.

**A/N: I really hope I didn't freak anyone out with the nightmare scene, but I wanted to explain what was so bad it was keeping Bella up at night; plus there was a bit of foreshadowing in it, although you probably won't see what I mean by that until later. Also, if any of you are curious about what the Edward/Charlie interaction was like when Charlie and Bella met Edward back at the hotel, you'll have to wait for the next chapter, because that's when I will cover that. I'll write it faster if you leave reviews, promise!**


	6. Wait A Minute, WHAT?

**A/N: This chapter picks up where Charlie's POV left off in the last one.**

**Freedomofabirdswings: there is a part with Charlie yelling at Edward, so I hope it makes you happy.**

**November21: Sorry I never replied to your review; I got the e-mail late at night, and afterwards it just slipped my mind. To answer your question, Bella is not taking on the appearance of a vampire, or possessed by one- she's just pale with shadows under her eyes from lack of sleep. Good guess though- and thanks for trying to figure it out, I love when readers do that!**

_**Chapter 5: Wait A Minute, WHAT?**_

**POV: Charlie**

Having decided to question Cullen about what had happened to give Bella nightmares, I was somewhat pleased when Bella said she wasn't hungry anymore and suggested we go back to the hotel where she was staying. "Is Cullen going to be there, or does he have something else to do this evening?" I asked.

Bella frowned. "I'm pretty sure Edward will be there waiting for me; but why do you care if he's there or not? Dad, I really hope you're not planning to read him the riot act the minute you see him."

_Crap, she knows me too well! _"What would I do that for? Has he done anything to deserve a reading of the riot act?"

"Could you, maybe, have tried not to sound so hopeful there?" she laughed; then her face shifted abruptly to perfect seriousness. "Now, I'm only going to say this one more time, so pay attention, all right? In all the time I've been with him, Edward has done absolutely nothing that could possibly be interpreted as just cause for you to scold, admonish, lecture, yell at, or beat up on him. He's never been anything but kind to me, and I expect you to play nice with him, understood?"

One look at her 'I'm not budging on this' face was all it took to convince me that openly displaying any animosity toward her vampire would be a huge mistake, so I decided I could wait to give him the third degree until she wasn't around; nightmares or no, she had to sleep sometime.

As we pulled into the hotel's parking lot, I tried to decide whether I really wanted Cullen to be there or not; on the one hand, I needed to talk to him about Bella, but on the other, there was something a bit unsettling about his company. I wasn't afraid of him per se – he barely looked older than Bells, and I wasn't about to be scared by a kid – but every time I thought about him, it really disturbed me and I couldn't put my finger on why.

Bella's prediction that he would be waiting for us turned out to be on the money; he opened the door and took my suitcase right out of my hands while greeting me with a quick nod and a 'hello, Charlie'. Maybe that was what bugged me about him, he seemed so cool and confident all the time and that self-assurance seemed out of place in someone so young. It was downright inhuman.

That brought me to the next problem I had with Edward Cullen- he was a vampire, a thing that shouldn't exist outside of books and movies, and on top of that he was the worst kind of criminal- an assassin, a killer; and I couldn't do anything about it, because the human world had no laws to cover creatures like him. _Jeez, no wonder Bella's starting to freak out after having so much alone time with him! What in the world does she see in him, anyway? _

I gave myself a mental shake; I'd barely scratched the surface the one and only time I'd met Cullen, so maybe I would understand Bella's attraction to him if I got to know him better. For all I knew, he could be a really nice monster. Yeah, right. _Well, I guess I can try to get a better idea of what he's all about after Bella goes to bed and I'm not having to stick to nice, inoffensive chitchat; and I have a feeling that'll be pretty soon- I don't think she can stay awake much longer. _

As it turned out, she faded faster than I thought she would. She almost nodded off on Cullen's shoulder twice before he finally said, "Bella, perhaps you should go to bed now; you look exhausted."

"What? No, I'm fine-"

"He's right, Bells, you really do look dead on your feet. Well, dead on your butt, since you're sitting on the couch instead of standing, but you know what I mean."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks a lot, Dad, you're a real twit, um, wit, I mean. Okay, I'll go." She trudged off, and I could swear I heard her mutter that she thought eighteen was too old to be sent to her room.

I watched her go, surprised by the show of resistance. It was obviously a cover for extreme reluctance to go to bed, and I guessed that her dreams must really be bothering her if she wanted to stay up when she could barely keep her eyes open. _That settles it- time to ask Cullen about this. _

"Ask me about what?"

I jumped; Bella had told me that Cullen could hear other people's thoughts, but knowing he had the ability was one thing- having it used on me was another thing entirely. Briefly, I wondered whether knowing in advance that he was a vampire would make it less disturbing if I ever saw him drink blood or do something that was way beyond a normal person's capacity.

"Probably not," he said dryly.

"Has anyone ever told you that's really annoying?" I asked irritably.

He grinned humorlessly. "No one ever seems to tell me anything else. Now, what did you want to ask me before you got sidetracked by how disconcerting my ability is?"

"Right, that; I want to know what the hell's going on with Bella. She looks like a zombie, and she told me she hasn't been sleeping well-"

"She hasn't; she's been thrashing around all over her bed for the last week."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

Cullen sighed, exasperated. "Vampire hearing, remember?"

"Hmph." I wasn't sure if I believed him, but decided to let it slide for now – after all, Bella said she hadn't… done anything with him that I really didn't want to think about her doing. "So you know all about her nightmares, then. Well, I guess so, with your… whatever you call it."

"It's called mind reading, or telepathy if you prefer the scientific term; and I do not use it to eavesdrop on Bella's dreams. She hates it when I do that, so I try to use it on her as little as possible."

I was surprised by this consideration, and a little curious about how much control he had over his telepathy if he was able to avoid hearing Bella's thoughts, but it wouldn't do to keep getting distracted. "Does that mean you don't know what she's dreaming about? It must be something pretty bad if she's this sleep deprived and still wants to stay up."

"No, I don't know exactly what her dreams are about, but I would guess that they have something to do with the vampire who has been on a city-wide killing spree-"

"SAY WHAT?!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THERE'S A VAMPIRE ON A KILLING SPREE IN THIS CITY?!" I didn't even realize I had left my chair until I found myself yanking Cullen up off the couch by the front of his shirt. "You better start explaining things right now, boy," I growled; we were almost nose to nose now.

Cullen looked surprised at my violent reaction. "What's the matter with you? Hasn't Bella already told you what's been happening here? But obviously not," he answered his own question, "because then you would not have asked what I meant. She told you nothing other than that she hasn't been sleeping well, then?"

"No, she didn't, but what's it to you, anyway?" I released my grip on him, folded my arms and scowled.

He shrugged. "I suppose it's none of my business; I just don't understand why she would insist on bringing you here and then not talk to you about what's on her mind."

"From the little she did say, I got the impression that her nightmares are so disturbing to her that it's hard for her to talk about it to anyone. She also said that she doesn't want you to know how scared she is-"

"What? She's actually frightened by these dreams?" Cullen ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier. "I cannot believe I didn't realize that! I knew her dreams kept her awake, but I had no idea they were scaring her… probably because being afraid is not something I know a lot about…"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, in the first place, what did you think was going on when she started getting nearly as pale as you, losing her appetite, and acting all nervous and twitchy – or did you just chalk that up to not enough sleep? In the second place, gee, did it never occur to you that being in the same city as a killer vampire MIGHT BE A LITTLE SCARY FOR A HUMAN WHO KNOWS ABOUT VAMPIRES?! ARE YOU TOTALLY IGNORANT OF US, OR ARE YOU JUST STUPID?"

For a moment, I wondered if I had gone too far and was about to find out exactly how much damage one of his kind could do to one of us. Cullen glared at me, but then the anger went out of him and he shut his eyes like he was tired, or maybe he couldn't stand to make eye contact with me anymore.

"You're right," he admitted. "Well, perhaps you're not right about me being stupid- at least I hope not; but you are right about me being rather ignorant of humans." He opened his eyes again and started pacing.

"The problem is that I never had much contact with them after I became a vampire, not until I met Bella anyway. I suppose I was foolish to think that I instantly understood Bella's species simply because I fell in love with her… so it's possible you were right to question my intelligence…"

"Wait a minute, I'm confused here. I know you vampires don't think and feel the same way we humans do, but Bella said that all vampires, you included, used to be human. Don't you remember your, um, you know, your previous life? Or has it been a really long time since you… changed?"

"Not incredibly long, no. My memories of my human life are vague- what memories I have left, that is- because when a person becomes a vampire, their senses are heightened to such an extent that everything they have left from their old life seems extremely dull, and eventually fades entirely. And so I can recall with perfect clarity all the destruction and death I've caused, while so many good memories- my parents, the person I used to be, are gone forever…"

He trailed off, getting lost in his musings, and I was grateful for his distraction because I couldn't think of a single flipping thing to say. Sure, I'd decided to try to get to know him better while I was here, but now that he'd told me more about himself I wasn't sure I really wanted to hear it. What I wanted was to be mad at him for letting my Bella get into such bad shape, for taking her away from me when he had no idea how to take care of her, but that just got a damn sight harder.

Until right now, I'd never given much thought to what Bella had said about vampires having been normal people before they got bitten; I sure hadn't thought about how the vampire felt about losing their old self. Now I found out that after a while they couldn't even remember who they used to be, and that seemed unfair. With a jolt, I realized that I was close to feeling sorry for Cullen, of all people! _Okay, this crap needs to stop right now, before he starts paying attention to my thoughts again._

Cullen turned to look at me, and I guessed he was about to ask what that thought was about; but before he could get the words out, a shrill scream from Bella's room grabbed both our attention. He was gone faster than I could even process that Bella needed help.

By the time I got there, Bella was sprawled on the floor – she'd probably been tossing and turning and fallen right out of bed. Cullen was crouched down next to her, holding her by the shoulders. "Bella, what is it?! Tell me what happened!"

She only shook her head, her eyes wide and terrified. I rushed across the room and joined the other two on the floor. "Bella, it's all right, you're safe. It was just a nightmare," I tried to comfort her. Bella blinked and forced herself to focus, and then nodded slowly.

"Just a nightmare," she repeated. "Just a dream. It wasn't real. It- it couldn't have been real. It couldn't have been…"

Cullen pulled her off the floor and sat her on the edge of her bed. "Bella, were you dreaming about the vampire murders? Is that what's kept you awake all night for the last week?"

"Edward, could you not talk about that right now?" Bella hissed. "Dad-"

"Already knows all about the vampire who's been on a rampage in this city," I finished for her. "Yeah, your boyfriend told me about that; and it strikes me as kind of ironic that I heard about it from him while you purposefully hid it from me."

Bella stared down at her knees. "Dad, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you everything, I really did, but I was afraid you'd make me go home if you knew- you'd think it was too dangerous here."

"You've got that much right, and I do think you should get out of here; even if you don't seem to be in any immediate danger from this killer, being in the same city as him or her is obviously having a bad effect on you. I can get you a flight home tomorrow, and you can go stay with Renee and Phil for a while."

"What?! No! I'm not going anywhere!"

"Bella, I think you should listen to your father this time," Cullen said quietly. "He only wants what's best for you, and he seems to have a much better idea of what that is than I do."

Bella bit her lip as she looked for the best way to argue now that she saw Cullen sided with me. "Why do I have to stay with Renee and Phil?" she finally asked. "Why can't I just go home with you, Dad?"

"Because, Bella, people are getting killed left, right, and center here, and I can't just walk away from that. I took my job with the DD so I could help stop things like this from happening."

"You are being ridiculous," Cullen snapped. "Were you not paying attention when I said a vampire is doing this? Even if you did manage to find the culprit (which I doubt you could) what would you do with them? The only one who could stop this killer is another vampire."

"Good thing there's another vampire on hand, then," I retorted – and stopped short. I hadn't meant to say that, it just slipped out in the heat of the argument. Cullen looked as shocked as I was to hear those words come out of my mouth, and Bella looked horrified.

"Dad, please tell me you're not suggesting that you and Edward go after this psycho vamp together!"

"I think that is exactly what Charlie is suggesting," Cullen told her. "And I think it's not a half-bad idea."

Bella's eyes popped open so wide I was surprised they still fit in her skull. "YOU DO?!" she shrieked. "HAVE YOU BOTH LOST YOUR MINDS?"

"I don't think so," he replied. "Charlie actually has a very good point; I could have stopped this if I'd put an honest effort into finding this vampire-"

"Yeah, come to think of it, why haven't you?" I asked him.

"Because policing the vampire world is not my job," he said irritably.

"Whose job is it, then?"

He had to think about that one for a moment. "Hmm, I don't know that it's anyone's job, really."

"Oh, that's just great; no wonder you vampires are all a bunch of lawbreakers," I snorted. "I guess I should feel lucky that you aren't taking the killer's side!"

"Of course I'm not. After the way he's upset Bella, I fully intend to kill him once I find him. I'm sure you have no intention of being left out of this manhunt, as it was your idea; but if we're going to work together, I think we need to set some ground rules. First off, you can keep your disparaging comments about my kind to yourself, understood?"

"Fine, whatever floats your boat," I snapped. He held out his hand, and I shook it – dang, he had a hard grip!

"Excellent. You can arrange Bella's flight home first thing in the morning, and once she's safely out of the way we can begin. Good night." He pulled his disappearing act for the second time that night, shutting the door in case Bella and I had anything to say to each other in private.

Bella had jumped to her feet at some point during our argument (it had all happened so fast that I didn't remember when), but now she sank back onto the bed and rubbed her forehead. "I can't believe you're doing this. Dad, what if something happens to you? What will I do then?"

This was one side of the issue I hadn't considered – as terrified as Bella was of this 'psycho vamp', as she called him, what would it do to her to know that Cullen and I were hunting him down while she was on the other side of the planet? _Quick, say something to reassure her. _"I'm sure vampires can be very dangerous, but so can human criminals and I deal with them on a regular basis, Bells. I know what I'm doing."

She smiled weakly. "I know you do, Dad. Besides, you have Edward to help you- what could go wrong, right?"

"What indeed?" _Only about a hundred things I can think of. I should never have let myself get so caught up in arguing with him that I ended up saying he and I should do something about this crazy vamp! _But since I had said it, my pride wouldn't let me back out; I was going to have to hunt down a deranged, super-powered murderer – with Edward Cullen as my partner! _Oh Lord, what have I gotten myself into?_

**POV: Edward**

**"**Good night." I turned and positively fled the room before I could say what I was really thinking: that I had only agreed to help Charlie track down the rogue vampire because I was angry and not thinking clearly, (and because when he'd asked why I had done nothing to stop the killings and said that I should have, it had seemed like a challenge, and I couldn't turn down a challenge from a human) but there was no way he and I should try to work together. The man absolutely loathed me, for goodness' sake!

He thought of me as a monster, a creature with so little of humanity left that he was completely at a loss to understand his daughter's feelings for me. So was I for that matter, but it was one thing to think of myself that way; it was more unpleasant to know that was how someone else saw me.

His knack for pointing out all the mistakes I had made with Bella, all the things about her I hadn't understood that another human would have, also grated on my nerves. _Dammit, I __know__ I have no business being with her, that she's much too good for me, but I could do without him rubbing it in every time he has the opportunity! _

The glass Bella had been drinking from was still sitting on the table in front of the couch, and I picked up and hurled it at the wall, where it shattered noisily. _Wonderful, _I thought, looking at the stain left by Bella's fruit juice, _now Charlie can add my horrible temper to the list of things he dislikes about me! _

_And I'm stuck with him until we catch this vampire- however long that takes! Without Bella there to diffuse the tension between us… _I stopped myself there; I didn't even want to think about it. _I should never have agreed to this, even if refusing did lower Charlie's opinion of me even more; but now that I have… what have I gotten myself into? _


	7. Vampire Hunting 101

**A/N: Hey guys, I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long! If you've read the message on my profile you know why, and I hope you understand. Things just got out of hand, and I'll do my best not to let it happen again, okay?**

**I'm sorry to say nothing earth-shattering happens in this chapter; it's mostly about Edward and Charlie trying to get along without Bella there to keep the peace, and Charlie's misconceptions about vampires making that difficult. After this the action will pick up, but the story will get darker, so I wanted to do a last bit of funny and this is it – hope you get a laugh out of it.**

_**Chapter 6: Vampire Hunting 101 **_

**POV: Charlie**

Cullen and I took Bella to the airport first thing the next morning; she hugged me goodbye and kissed Cullen, said she'd miss us and that she would kick our butts if we got ourselves killed, then went into the passenger's lounge to wait for her flight to board.

Once she was out of sight, I (reluctantly) turned to face my new… partner. Ugh, I hated having to call him that. The prospect of having to hang out with him for an indeterminate period of time gave me the heebie-jeebies – what if he got thirsty and we had to make a pit stop for him to suck on someone's jugular?

He glared at me. "I thought we had established that you are supposed to keep your disparaging remarks to yourself?"

"I didn't say anything!"

"I'm a mind reader, remember?" he hissed. "Thinking something is exactly the same as saying it aloud."

I threw my hands in the air. "Well, excuse me! I don't edit my thoughts as a matter of course, you know!"

Cullen smirked. "I hope you realize that people are staring at you now."

"Well that's just marvelous," I snapped. "Let's get out of here before someone calls security."

As we got into the car, Cullen said, "You know, I could have handled airport security."

I rolled my eyes. "If anyone called security on us I would handle it, Cullen; a nonviolent approach works best in that kind of situation, you know."

"I was not planning to use violence, Swan," he retorted. "For your information, I am perfectly capable of resolving a conflict without resorting to such crude methods as pummeling the other party."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure Gandhi's got nothing on you; and it's Mr. Swan to you, punk."

He gave me a resentful look that reminded me of just about every other criminal I'd ever slapped cuffs on. I decided something had to be done to diffuse the tension; all this fighting wasn't getting one damn thing done.

"All right, let's just take a breather and calm down. Forget searching the city for the crazy vampire, we won't make it to the other end of the street if we focus all our attention on arguing with each other."

"I suppose you do have a point," he agreed in a somewhat sullen tone.

"Good. We'll take two hours and then meet back here, okay?"

"Fine by me." He jumped out of the car and darted off down the street.

When he was out of sight, I sighed and slumped forward, hitting my forehead against the steering wheel. _This is a disaster; five minutes after Bella leaves the two of us alone and we're already at each others' throats! Wait, no, bad mental image to bring up when thinking about a vampire._

The original plan was that we would start trying to narrow down the list of places our vampire might be likely to strike next; not an easy job, given the randomness of the attacks. Unfortunately the plan was kaput now that my partner had taken off – I had been counting on him to have some ideas there since he was the expert on vampires.

_So now what am I supposed to do for two hours? I can't just start looking without him: in the first place I wouldn't know where to start, and in the second place what would I do if I actually found this vampire? Get killed and eaten, that's what. Argh, it's frustrating to realize that I actually need him on this one!_

But wait, there was one thing I could do without Cullen. Once we caught this vampire, killing it was bound to require some kind of special equipment, and I could definitely handle that on my own. The question was what kind of special equipment? Now that I thought about it, Bella had never said anything about the right way to kill a vampire. Probably didn't want me to know so I wouldn't be tempted to try it on her precious boyfriend.

_Well, that's fine; I'll just have to see if I can't find out some other way. But where am I going to find instructions on killing vampires? _I knew the local library was out; all the books there would be in French. That left the internet, so I went back to the hotel and turned on my laptop.

A Google search turned up all kinds of ridiculous junk, so finally I just went to Wikipedia; its articles usually had good, solid facts. As I read, I pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and made a list of everything the online encyclopedia listed as being useful in killing or repelling the undead; fifteen minutes later, I shut off the computer and headed to the shopping district.

**POV: Edward**

It was a relief when Charlie suggested that we take a break from each other; I certainly did not want to be the one to admit that I couldn't stand another minute with my new partner, but I was sure that if I hadn't left when I did I probably would have wrung his neck.

_I need to stop thinking that way; Bella would never forgive me if I killed her father – no matter how obnoxious he is. No, __don't__ keep thinking about that. _I resolved at that second that I would not let Charlie Swan get to me one more time.

Of course, that didn't deter him from trying. First, he wasn't even there when I reached the street corner where we had agreed to meet when our two hour respite was over. I waited for a quarter of an hour before he finally drove up; then he refused to let me drive, and insisted on going five miles per hour less than the agonizingly slow speed limit.

I bit down hard on my tongue to keep myself from telling him that he might as well head for a funeral home instead of a hotel because at this rate he would die of old age before we reached our destination. Instead I asked, "So where were you? I was standing around waiting on you for fifteen minutes."

"Sorry about that; I decided to go ahead and start stocking up on the stuff we'll need for this little manhunt."

"Did you?" Where had he learned what would be useful in hunting vampires? I had never given Bella the details of how a vampire could be killed, so where had he gotten his information?

"Yep, I did." He sounded quite pleased with himself.

"And how did you know what sort of stuff we need?"

"I looked it up on Wikipedia. Where else do you go for information, right?"

I nodded, but I was actually thinking, _oh, this is just marvelous! _I knew for a fact that internet research on vampires usually turned up a load of folklore, legends, superstitions, and outright nonsense. Still, Charlie was for the most part a sensible man, so surely he wouldn't take to heart the most ridiculous of those; he hadn't once asked me if I turned into a bat or used to live in Transylvania.

After we checked into our new hotel, I braced myself for the worst and asked Charlie what sort of vampire hunting supplies he had purchased. Sure enough, his shopping list could have been straight from the pages of Dracula; he'd bought a large cross, several wooden stakes, and a knife with a serrated edge, presumably for decapitations.

"What, no garlic?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well, the store was all out of garlic, so I improvised. You think this'll work instead?" Charlie reached into his grocery bag and produced a can of Garlic Valley Farms Spray. "It may not be the real thing, but it'll be more convenient since it comes in a can; I'd look like a dumbass carrying around cloves of garlic."

_And pointing a can of artificial flavoring at me in no way makes you look like a dumbass. _"Charlie," I began, trying to be tactful, "I think you've been a bit misinformed about how to repel vampires. The things they put on the internet are usually based on myths and superstitions, and those can be… unreliable."

Charlie looked as if the floor had dropped out from underneath him. "You mean Wikipedia was wrong?"

I smirked at his astonishment. "In this instance, yes."

He shook his head in amazement, then shrugged. "Well, I feel bad for wasting time getting a bunch of crap we apparently won't be using, but there's no point crying over it now. Later you can tell me about the right way to go about killing a vampire, but for now I'm going to start on my dinner. Bells told me you don't like the smell of human food, so you might want to clear out for a while."

I agreed and turned to go, but before I reached the door I heard a bag filled with what sounded like something grainy hit the floor and Charlie's muttered swearing. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the bag he had dropped had torn and spilled grains of rice everywhere – and they were small enough that picking them up would be extremely annoying, and probably time-consuming.

Noticing that I was still there, Charlie looked up and said, "I don't guess I could get any help from you with cleaning this up, huh?"

"Did Wikipedia tell you that, too? In the name of all that's holy, please tell me you didn't believe that one!"

"It did seem a little far-fetched, yeah. So I take it you're not going to pick this rice up?"

I shook my head. "To borrow the human phrase, 'tough fingernails'. I'll see you later… much later, as it appears that you have quite a bit of rice to clean up there."

"That's 'tough toenails', you little undead punk!" he yelled after me. "You really need to join the rest of us here in the twenty-first century!"

I laughed quietly as I shut the door on him. Really, I couldn't be upset with him for saying that; he was simply irate because he had to pick up his spilled rice by himself. _Ah well, he deserves it; wooden stakes, crosses, and garlic spray indeed! And that rice… honestly, the things humans believe. _

I was almost tempted to just leave Charlie there and go after our target by myself… almost. I didn't because I knew Bella would be angry if her father came across the killer, or any other vampires for that matter, and got injured or killed because I wasn't there to stop them. Also, Charlie's idea of gathering vampire-hunting supplies was not a bad one.

My usual method for taking out one of my own kind was the standard dismemberment and incineration, but if this one turned out to be too strong or too vicious for that to work (which was very possible, given the condition in which his or her victims were found) it might be prudent to have some sort of explosive on hand. _I'm sure Charlie could get his hands on that sort of thing; I'll have to talk to him about it tomorrow. Considering the mess I've left him with, he may not want to see me before then. _

**A/N: For the non-Wikipedia-junkies out there who didn't get the last part of Charlie and Edward's conversation, one of the legends on Wikipedia's vampire article (under the heading 'Creating Vampires) says that if a vampire comes across spilled rice, it has to count every grain. That one was so ridiculous I couldn't resist putting it in; seriously, go look it up if you don't believe me.**


	8. The Hunters Become the Hunted

**A/N: Once again, I find myself apologizing for a delay in updating! Forgive me, pretty please? At least this time it wasn't because of school; it was because I was getting my new story going. It doesn't mean you have to worry about me forgetting this one though; I'm going to try to alternate between the two, so the next chap I write will be for that one, and after I've got it updated I'll work more on this. Please try not to hate me for the new arrangement – especially after you read the end of this chapter…**

_**Chapter 7: The Hunters Become the Hunted**_

**POV: Edward**

By the next morning, Charlie had put the rice incident behind him and was ready to get down to business, and so was I. Our mutual eagerness to catch our target made it easier than I would have believed possible to put aside our differences and form a plan of action – one that mercifully did not include garlic spray and rice.

I told him my idea about explosives, and he was quite pleased with the suggestion; apparently, explosives were something of a specialty of his. When I asked if it would be possible for him to procure that sort of weapon when he was so far out of his jurisdiction, he laughed and said, "I probably could given enough time, but why tangle with all that red tape and trying to persuade some stuffy old bureaucrat to let you requisition C-4 when you can just make your own?"

"Make your own C-4?" I repeated skeptically. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that you can do that?"

Charlie puffed up indignantly. "Hey, the homemade version might not be exactly like the real thing, but assuming that all we need is something portable that'll make a bang, I've got this one covered."

"If you say so."

"You bet I do. I have to go buy a few of the things I'll need, and then get ready to have your socks knocked off."

I watched him go, trying to decide if he was serious or not. I had never heard of homemade explosives before, but then it wasn't as though I was any sort of expert with weapons; vampires usually preferred to fight with their bare hands, and I was no exception.

I would have stayed with that strategy this time as well if it weren't for the fact that all the evidence was that this time I was up against a vampire with no conscience, no impulse control, an insatiable lust for destruction, and possible mental instability – a highly dangerous combination. All the vampires I had killed prior to this had been ones who had fallen out of Jasper's good graces, and most of them had been somewhat similar to him: calculating, devious, and occasionally homicidal, but only when it served a purpose.

For the most part, they were only out for money, or some other form of personal gain; this vampire, on the contrary, seemed to want nothing more than to kill for the sake of killing, and that sense of wanton cruelty was a foreign concept to me. I could even say I found it disturbing to think that there was anyone, vampire or not, who was capable of taking such pleasure in ending another's life.

When I had to do that, I saw it as an unpleasant necessity, but never something to be enjoyed. Oh, there was some enjoyment in the thrill of the hunt and in a good fight, to be sure, but not much in the killing itself. _Now that I've thought about it, I can understand why Bella was so terrified. _

I wondered idly if I would be afraid when I finally met my target; considering that I was dealing with a killer more vicious than I had ever been, there was a chance that this would be the fight I wouldn't survive. Still, I couldn't muster any real sense of fear – as I'd told Charlie the night before last, it simply was not an emotion I had experienced since becoming a vampire, with the sole exception of the time when Bella had been kidnapped by Jacob Black; even then I had only been afraid for her, not for myself.

_I wonder where Bella is right now, how she's doing. Surely she's better off with her mother and away from all this, but watching her leave was harder than I would have thought. I wish she would call me… she's had more than enough time by now…_

My thoughts were interrupted by Charlie shouting for me to open the door, as his hands were full. I complied, and he marched in carrying two large bags. "Do you need help with those?" I asked.

"No, I got it. There's nothing else that needs to be gotten out of the car, either. I'll get to work right away, and we should have some ammo by tonight. Sound good to you?"

"Yes; we can begin the hunt after sunset."

Charlie nodded and headed for the kitchen area; I followed him, curious to see what he would use to make his knock-off explosive. Unfortunately, several of the ingredients turned out to have a rather unpleasant smell, and it wasn't long before my sensitive nose had had all it could take and I was forced to go outside for some fresh air.

Three hours later, my cell phone rang – it was Charlie telling me that he was done and I could come back. "Took you long enough," I remarked as I walked in.

Charlie snorted. "I was actually done an hour ago, but it took a while for the air to clear. That's after I opened the window and sprayed a whole thing of Renuzit in here; take a whiff."

I did, and it certainly smelled like an entire can of air freshener had been emptied into the room. Even that wasn't enough to completely mask the residual stench of Charlie's 'project', though; I could still detect a hint of petroleum jelly in the air. "I hope this concoction of yours works," I told him.

"Course it works; you don't think I stunk up the room just for kicks, do you? Unlike you, I actually have to sleep in here tonight. Now, how are we going to find this vamp? Where do vampires usually go looking when they want a midnight snack?"

"Anywhere that they can snatch their prey without attracting other humans' attention, which means either somewhere isolated or somewhere so crowded that no one would notice if one or two people vanished."

"I can't think of too many isolated places in the middle of France, can you?"

"Nothing comes to mind; somewhere crowded then. Most vampires also like places with dim lighting, a lot of noise, and people who aren't paying much attention to their surroundings."

"Sounds like your average nightclub to me," Charlie observed. "Those places do all kinds of crazy stuff with the lights, the music is loud enough to blast the wax out of your ears, and most of the people there are so drunk you could bite 'em in the middle of the dance floor and nobody would notice – not even them."

I agreed, and we did a quick Internet search which gave us the location of all the nightclubs in Paris and its suburbs – all thirty-eight of them. **(I don't actually know how many nightclubs there are in and around Paris, so I just made that number up.)**

"Oh Lordy, it'll take all week to check out every club on this list! And that's assuming our target actually decides to hunt there; they could decide to be a big rebel, chuck the guidelines of where vampires normally hunt, and just grab people out of the grocery store!" Charlie exclaimed.

"A valid point, but we have to start somewhere. Hmm, I would suggest that we split up, with one of us checking the clubs for vampires and the other keeping an eye on other places in which our target could be hunting, except that if you found him or her by yourself, you would most likely get killed… I guess we have no choice but to stick together, then." I sighed in frustration; our job would be much easier if we could divide up the surveillance points on our list rather than both of us going to every single one.

"Not necessarily. All you have to do to kill a vampire is tear it to pieces and burn it, right?"

"Yes…"

"Well, the C-4 can take care of that; I can handle that just fine without you, and I'm all for getting this over with ASAP."

"So am I, but if you get hurt-"

"And what about all the other people who could get hurt the longer this psycho-vamp is on the loose?"

I had no counterargument for that, and Charlie knew it. "Fine," I conceded, "we split up. But be careful."

"The same goes for you. And here, take this." He handed me one of his improvised explosives. "From what Bells told me, I'm guessing your aim is good enough that you'll only need one shot if you run into a situation where you could use one of these."

"My aim is fine, but it seems that Bella neglected to tell you that I've never used this sort of thing before."

"There's nothing to it; ordinarily it would have a detonator wired to a remote, but since I was working in a time crunch I went for flammable instead. All you have to do is set it on fire and throw it – and make sure it lands wherever you want the blast. Oh, and after the flame touches it, you have just under ten seconds to get out of the way. Think that's doable?"

"Yes; how far away is 'out of the way'?"

"Forty-five to fifty yards. Even at that distance you could still get knocked on your ass by shock waves, but you won't get your nose blown off your face. Anything else you need to know?"

"Only one thing – which of us is going where?"

"I'll hit the streets, and you'll go clubbing, of course."

I groaned. "Why?"

"Because you'll have an easier time blending in with all the hard-partying kids who usually go to places like that… and because you're more durable than I am – you can take getting the full blast of those surround sound systems. Come on, Cullen, unless your sweep of the downtown vampire buffets ends with you running into our target, it's not like it'll kill you."

6 Hours Later

_Why__ did I let Charlie talk me into this? _The last six hours had been some of the dullest I could remember in all of my life, and an unproductive waste of time as well. If I had found even the slightest trace of any vampires other than myself in any of the clubs I had checked it might have been worth it; but I had not, and after six consecutive hours, the barrage of sex-crazed, alcohol-blurred thoughts and mental images was beginning to wear on me.

I was seriously considering giving up and going back to the hotel, and hoping Charlie had had better luck with his part of the search than I when the decision was made for me; a pair of scantily clad girls who had clearly had a few too many shots of whatever was on tap at the bar made their unsteady way over to where I was standing as I looked for an exit I could reach without passing through the writhing mass of humans in the middle of the building. The briefest examination of their thoughts was all it took to make up my mind – oh yes, it was definitely time to leave.

_Well, at least now we can be fairly certain that this vampire prefers the thrill of snatching victims off the street to the easy kills provided by drunken teenagers and twenty-somethings. Ugh, that means Charlie could have found the target and taken him out with the explosive while I was wasting my time in that abomination of a club! That would truly be adding insult to injury._

However, upon reaching the hotel I saw that the car Charlie had rented wasn't in the parking lot. Did that mean that he had found nothing and was still looking, or…?

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I automatically flipped it open to find a text message from Charlie, which consisted of just two lines:

_Need your help here ASAP._

The other line was an address, which I quickly tracked down; it turned out to be a small house on the outer fringe of the city, the sort rented for extended vacations. Strangely, I didn't see Charlie anywhere around, nor did I hear any trace of his thoughts. I was beginning to feel that something was very wrong when my phone vibrated again. The new message was even shorter than the last:

_Inside._

I frowned, looking from the phone's screen to the house. Inside? Did that mean Charlie was inside? But Charlie Swan was not an idiot; he would never walk into a mad vampire's hideout alone. What possible reason could he have for going in there… unless it wasn't by choice? That was the only explanation that made any sense.

My mind raced, putting together what must have happened in less than half a second: Charlie had found our target, but the vampire had noticed him before he could hit it with the C-4 and had captured him, and then questioned him about why he, a human, was out hunting vampires. Of course Charlie wouldn't have wanted to give up anything, but vampires, especially sadistic ones, could be very 'persuasive'…

So the other vampire had found out about me, decided that I might be a threat and it would be prudent to eliminate me, and had used Charlie's phone to send me the messages, knowing I wouldn't come if they were from an unfamiliar number. It wasn't at all difficult to figure out, really, and considering what I knew about this vampire, I also guessed that they would have killed Charlie – for the fun of it, I thought disgustedly – before taking his phone to set a trap for me.

The worst part was that I had to walk into the trap, because I could not walk away and leave Charlie's death unavenged. I may not have reached the point of counting Charlie Swan as a friend, but I had seen that he was a good man; he certainly deserved better than for his murderer to go free.

I sprinted the remaining distance to the house and smashed through the front door; the instant I was inside, I knew that my grasp of the situation was not as good as I had thought, because there was no hint of a vampire's scent in the house – instead, it reeked of werewolves!

"Nice of you to join us, Cullen," an all too familiar voice sneered from the hallway to the right.

I spun around, snarling. "Jacob Black! You killed my partner and took his phone to trick me into coming here? This is a new low even for you, mongrel!"

Black smirked. "Actually, it's not; see, Cullen, I wasn't the one who sent you that text message."

"Oh, no? Who did send it if not you?"

"I did."

The voice came from behind me, and I froze; I recognized it, but it couldn't be…

"Bet you didn't expect this, huh Cullen?" Black taunted as the person who had brought me here circled around me and joined him. "If you have anything else you want to say, I'd get it out now, since we'll be killing you in the next minute or so."

Black's words barely registered; all my attention was locked onto the girl who stood beside him, a cruel smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I – I don't understand – how – why would you do this, Bella?"

**A/N: Like I said, please don't hate me!**


	9. Me, You, and Me

**A/N: Okay, this is the chapter which will hopefully answer all your questions! All the necessary information doesn't exactly fit together, so I made this a split-into-different-parts chapter; there are also lots of flashbacks, but as long as you don't speed-read it should make sense. **

_**Chapter 8: Me, You, and Me**_

_**The Breaking Point **_

**POV: 3****rd**** Person **

Flashback - Bella's chapter 2 phone conversation with Charlie

_"Yeah, fine; look, I have to go, I think Edward's back. Bye, Dad." Bella hit the button to terminate her call and put the phone down, tears prickling in her eyes. In the last month, Bella had endured more highly stressful experiences than most people did in an entire lifetime; now it was catching up to her, eating at her from the inside out. Her father telling her that he couldn't be with her to provide moral support in the most trying time of her life was the final straw… and it was the one that broke her._

_Bella's grip on reality had been shaken more than anyone knew by recent events; encounters with werewolves and supernaturally gifted vampires would traumatize almost any human and discovering her own vampire-like talent for projecting mental commands to people around her – the sort of talent human brains weren't designed to have – only made it worse. Relocating to a completely unfamiliar country had pushed her closer to her breaking point, and now she had reached it. She fainted, her forehead colliding with the counter's edge as she fell to the floor._

_No one - not even Bella herself - realized it, but that moment was the end of Isabella Swan as everyone knew her. She'd had all she could take, and her mind snapped under the pressure. It would take some time for her to feel the full consequences of this snap, but the damage was done. _

_**The Other**_

**POV: 3****rd**** Person **

Flashback – the next week

_Bella's mind tried to repair itself, but she had already had too much to deal with and couldn't bounce back perfectly this time. She tried anyway, but her mind's rewiring was flawed; the result was a split in her personality. Her original personality was unchanged, but the new one was the original's polar opposite. The balance between them was unstable, and when it finally tipped all hell broke loose._

_Bella was a kind, caring, and usually considerate girl with an unfortunate tendency to sacrifice her own well-being for people she cared for; her new, backward personality was mostly unfeeling, manipulative, possessed all the conscience of a black hole, and hated what the real Bella loved, especially Edward Cullen. This twisted version of Bella thought her current circumstances were one big mess, and blamed it all on him (a bit unfair, but not completely wrong). _

_From there, she quickly decided it would be best for her (and for the world in general, not that she actually gave a flip about the rest of the world) if Edward simply wasn't around anymore. The only question was how to get rid of him, but that was easily answered. Bella knew of one person who wanted Edward dead in the worst kind of way, who might already have finished him if her other self hadn't interfered; it was just getting him there that presented a problem._

_She could have waited for him to track down Edward on his own, but who knew how long that might take? No, she would have to do something to bring Jacob Black to her, and it wasn't hard to plan how. Vampires and werewolves were natural enemies, so if the pack got wind of an out-of-control vamp in the middle of France, they would come running._

_Of course, neither version of Bella actually knew any vampires with self-control issues, but creating an illusion of one was easier than it should be. All you needed were a few bodies with torn necks and drained blood…_

**A/N: for disclaimer purposes, I'm pausing to acknowledge my inspiration for Bella's problem: Robert Louis Stevenson's ****Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde****, and Niki/Jessica Sanders from Heroes, one of my favorite TV shows. I loved the internal conflict in those stories and wanted to do something similar with Bella because she's usually the innocent victim, so writing a darker Bella who's somewhere between evil and insane is a fun experiment; I picked this story for that experiment because I think the storyline's put her through enough to make her crazy. **

_**The Unlikely Allies**_

**POV: Dark Bella**

Flashback – Two Weeks Later, Midnight

_"There you are, finally; you took long enough getting here." _

_Jacob Black's eyes widened. "What in the world…?" he muttered._

_"Are you telling me you don't remember me? That hurts, Jacob; I thought I'd made an impression."_

_Jacob snorted derisively. "You did that all right, leech-lover," he spat. "Course I remember you, __Bella Swan__, you shot me to save your bloodsucking boyfriend! How come you're out here alone, anyway – he dump you already?"_

_My eyes narrowed; I didn't like his attitude one little bit, and I was tempted to pull out my brand-new knife and stab him right here. _No, can't do that, _I reminded myself, _I still need him. _"As a matter of fact, he __hasn't__ dumped me. He left to hunt, and I decided to get out while I could."_

_"Well, you picked the wrong night to take a stroll, Swan. I was here looking for a bloodsucker, but since I've found you instead and I still owe you for that bullet hole in my arm… You see where I'm going with this?"_

_"You're not going to hurt me," I said calmly, adding a little mental suggestion to that statement just to be on the safe side._

_"Oh yeah? And why's that?" _

_"Because as much as you dislike me, I'm not your least favorite person in the world; that honor belongs to my 'bloodsucking boyfriend', and I can help you take him down."_

_It was too dark to see Jacob's expression clearly, but his skepticism was so tangible I could practically feel it in the air between us. "You, help me take down Cullen? I don't freakin' think so."_

_I tsked condescendingly. "So judgmental – it's really not attractive. You don't know anything about me." _But then, who does anymore? _"The one time we met, we didn't exactly have any heart to hearts, remember?"_

_"Okay, let's say you did realize your boyfriend's no good. Say something that'll make me believe it, but leave out the sarcasm crap."_

_"I'm just tired of rearranging my whole life to suit him! You know, my life might have been kinda boring before he came along, but at least I never got kidnapped, and never had to drop off the face of the earth to get away from __national security__! I'm over the whole letting-Edward-jerk-me-around-thing, all right?" I hoped this little outburst would do the trick; of course I could have tried forcing Jacob to help me and skipped the convincing him part, but that was too risky. Setting a trap for Edward would take some time, and I'd never tested how long my control would hold when I wasn't in close proximity to the controlee. It would be better if Jacob helped me willingly; that way I wouldn't have to worry about him snapping back and turning on me._

_He thought over what I'd said, suspicion fighting with his all-consuming grudge against Edward; he was smart enough to know that getting rid of Edward would be easier with inside help, even if I wasn't his first choice. "I guess that makes sense," he said slowly. _

_I smirked – getting people to do what I wanted was __way__ too easy when they had an obsession to play on. _

_"But I'm still not sure I can trust you."_

_"Of course you aren't. If you must know, I don't really trust you either; but look, right now our priorities mesh, and we're better off working together."_

_He barked out a low, wolfish laugh. "I have to hand it to you, Swan; you're not the dumb pushover I thought you were. Now, let's talk about the best way to whack your boyfriend."_

_**The Setup**_

**POV: 3****rd**** Person **

Flashback – day Bella supposedly left for Renee's, airport

_Switching personas was easiest when Bella was alone, so her darker self might not have reemerged if only Edward and Charlie had stayed with her until she boarded her plane; but, being a couple of guys, of course they were in a hurry to go off and fight with a vampire psychopath. Neither of them had an inkling that their psychopath was right under their noses, because who would ever suspect sweet, innocent Bella of cold-blooded murder? _

_So, they left her alone, giving her plenty of time to brood over how she didn't want to be on the other side of the planet while her father and her boyfriend were getting into all kinds of trouble. Of course, the other Bella didn't want to leave either; her reasons were very different – she wanted to stay so she could __cause__ all kinds of trouble – but the two Bellas were close enough to agreeing to trigger the switch again. _

_The nastier Bella was surprised to find herself at the airport, but she was able to find enough residual memory from her nicer side to piece together what had happened the night before – and she went from surprised to angry alarmingly fast. She knew that the residual memory effect meant that her other self wasn't totally in the dark about her involvement in the recent string of vampire-style murders, and was frightened by the feeling, but Charlie getting mixed up in the situation was something she had never factored into the equation._

_She whipped her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed faster than she ever had before. "I hope you've got your motorcycle running," she said when Jacob answered. "I need you to pick me up; things just got a lot more complicated."_

**POV: Jacob**

Same day as chapter seven, sunset

_Bella and I watched from a safe distance as her dad and Cullen went on their separate ways. "How'd you know they would split up?" I asked. "Your knack for guessing what they'll do next is starting to freak me out." _

_"Wow, a werewolf thinks __I'm__ freaky; I'm pretty sure that's the pot calling the kettle black, Black. Anyway, it's easy to guess someone's next move when you know them." _

_"Sure, whatever you say. I'm glad you were right; it'll make it easier to get Cullen to come to us, and your dad will be out of it as long as he doesn't notice us swiping his cell." Bella shrugged noncommittally, and something about the gesture made me ask, "You __do__ want him kept out of this, don't you?"_

_She threw me a sharp look. "Of course I do. After all, __Charlie's__ not the one who dragged me into a vampire gang like messing with my life was his God-given right," she hissed. I'd had time to get used to it, but the venomous tone she used to talk about Cullen still shocked me a little. Sure, I'd known all along that she was making a huge mistake being with him, but I never expected __her__ to see that. _

_I never expected her to have such a devious streak either – it was almost hard to believe she was the same Bella Swan I'd snatched in LA just weeks ago. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? You don't think you'll feel bad about it later?"_

_"About taking Dad's phone? Don't worry, I'll give it back."_

_"No, not about the phone! I meant, won't you feel bad about Cullen? You were his girlfriend; I thought you were all in love with him."_

_"What's it to you if I was?"_

_Geez, a little of her overly defensive prickliness went a long way. "It's nothing," I sighed. "I just have a hard time understanding how your feelings about him could change like this. I'd get you wanting to leave him, but wanting to __kill__ him seems kind of drastic. What'd he do to make you hate him so much?"_

_"You really want to know about my feelings? You know what, fine – I'll tell you. I __was__ in love with Edward, more than I've ever been with anyone else, probably more than I ever will be again. Even after I realized that I'd be better off without him I couldn't make myself walk away from him, and __that's__ why I need to get rid of him, permanently. It's like kicking a drug habit; resisting the urge to shoot up is too hard if you still have a drawer full of the stuff, so you throw it away."_

_I sure as hell didn't see that one coming. I had thought Bella was putting up an icy front because Cullen had done something terrible to her, not because she still felt something for him. I halfway wished she didn't, but that shouldn't matter as long as she helped me take down the bloodsucker. "Let's throw away your leftover drugs then."_

_Bella grinned, her viciousness back in full force. "Sounds good to me."_

_**The Getaway**_

**POV: Jacob**

Present (finally!) picking up where chapter 7 left off

Cullen's shell-shocked look was a zillion times better than I'd ever imagined, like he couldn't wrap his mind around his precious little Bella (who wasn't his anymore) siding with me.

"You don't understand, huh? Let me clear it up for you; I've gotten too much emotional wear and tear out of our relationship, and it's just not worth it anymore. I'm sorry things turned out this way," she said, but the coldness in her voice said otherwise. "I'll always love you – sort of – but you've got to go."

"And what about Charlie, Bella? What did you do to him?"

"Nothing!" Bella spat. Her face twisted into a furious scowl that almost sent chills down my spine; when her temper flared up like this, she looked a little crazy. But she got herself under control fast. "There was no reason to do anything to Charlie. I only needed his phone – I couldn't use mine since I was supposed to be with Renee. So I swiped Charlie's from his car when he went into some café for coffee. He didn't even know I was there. It's better this way; we can get this over with quickly and quietly. That reminds me – this neighborhood is too quiet for fighting, so I'm afraid I can't let you do any."

"You're stopping him from even fighting?" Paul chuckled. "You're cold, Swan."

"Sometimes you have to be. Now phase already – I want this finished."

We all jumped to obey her, but I gave her a quick glare while I still had my human face; her I-can-make-you-do-what-I-want mojo came in handy, but it could also be pretty damn annoying. Phasing took under a minute, and we were about to pounce on the bloodsucker when the sound of the front door being kicked open froze us in our tracks.

_What the hell?! _I sniffed the air – the intruder was a human I'd smelled before. A couple of the pack swerved off to deal with the human; I heard startled swearing and a lighter flicking on, and a sharp petroleum smell filled the air.

Bella's eyes widened. "We have to get out of this building!" she exclaimed and ran for the back door.

_You heard her, guys; it's checkout time! _I followed the girl, leaping through the door she'd already yanked open. My leap took me straight into her, and we both went flying; seconds later, the house exploded with a BANG! like the start of the apocalypse!

The shock waves from the explosion sent me, Swan, and all the other wolves that got out in time a lot farther than we would've gone on our own and then slammed us back to the ground. I couldn't say how long I laid there stunned, gasping for air with my ears ringing, before I was able to sit up and see the extent of the damage. The house we'd broken into was totally flattened, and the ones on either side of it had gaping holes in the walls.

Most of the pack was there, but I counted three missing; everyone who had made it had been changed back to human by the shock and were slowly picking themselves up, some with half-healed cuts and scrapes. Bella, on the other hand, wasn't moving from where she'd landed not three feet from me. She was definitely still breathing and didn't seem to have any injuries, but her eyes were unfocused. Was she going into shock or something?

"Hey, Bella, are you all right? Bella? Can you hear me?"

She snapped back abruptly and sat up, shaking her head and undoing the hair clip that was about to fall out anyway. "Yes, I hear you, and I'm fine except for my back feeling like one massive bruise. Thanks for the concern."

"No problem." I stood up and held out my hand, but she ignored it and got to her feet by herself. "What the hell was that back there? You said we needed to get out; how'd you know?"

"Charlie," she growled. "He has a thing for explosives, specifically the homemade variety. I kind of expected him to have some; it would be stupid not to when you're messing with creatures much stronger than you, and in Charlie's line of work you don't get very far by being stupid. What about Edward – did he make it out?"

Quil, Brady and I did a quick look through the decimated house and found some of the missing pack members (some of them meaning pieces) but nothing that looked or smelled like dead vampire. "Looks like he did, I'm sorry to say. Why didn't whatever you did stop him, huh?"

Bella glared. "I only told him not to fight – I didn't say anything about not running away. I didn't think Charlie would be able to track him here… or that he would bother. The last time I saw them, they couldn't stand each other! I never thought Charlie would come help Edward!" She looked so furious, I almost thought she could have phased into a wolf, but she took a couple of deep breaths and calmed down slightly. "Damn it all," she muttered under her breath.

"I know how you feel; I've been trying to get rid of that leech a lot longer than you have, but right now we should get out of here. The houses around here could have had those fire alarms that go off at the fire station, and getting busted for arson is the last thing we need."

"You're right; okay, let's go. Oh, and Jacob? If you and your pack aren't going to phase again, could you please put on some pants?"

**IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ: I have a few different ideas about what could happen with Dark Bella/Real Bella, and I'm setting up a poll so you can let me know which ones you'd like me to use. There's more info on my profile; please check it out, I could use the suggestions! **

**The following people get a round of applause for figuring out the Bella-turns-bad twist before the end of the last chapter: forevaluvinEdward, HorseyGal23, november21, and swiss-vampire; I meant to put those in chapter 7 and forgot, but you girls, guys (?) deserve congratulations for your perceptiveness, deduction skills, or excellent guesswork – whatever you used!**

**My first plan for this chap didn't have the house blowing up, but I added that as a thank-you to Nat for not murdering me after that cliffhanger – did you like it? Draft one also kept the interaction between Jacob and Dark Bella a lot more impersonal; I changed it to give you more insight into how she thinks because although she's not meant to be likable (obviously) I don't want her to come off as thoughtless, but I did NOT mean to give the impression that anything happens between her and Jacob later. It might be interesting, but I think I've done enough to Edward for one story, don't you?**

**I think I've covered everything, but if you have any questions not answered in the chapter or my absurdly long notes, review or PM me and I'll do my best to answer. **


	10. Contingency Plotting

**A/N: after the last chapter, it was pointed out to me that what I described happening to Bella doesn't gel with what the textbooks say about schizophrenia, and I think I should let you all know that the person who did the pointing out is probably right. I've never studied psychology or neurology (at least not yet), nor do I know anyone who suffers from that disorder, and because I don't spend the time on research that a real writer does, I wasn't at all surprised to hear that I got my facts wrong; still, I'd like to apologize for the inaccuracy, and ask everyone reading this to keep in mind that I like to, um, stretch creative license (sometimes to the breaking point), so please don't take anything I write as fact… please? I'm very sorry if I misled anybody; that wasn't something I intended to do, and again, I'm sorry if I did it anyway. I actually said this in the previous chapter, but then I took it out because I already had too many long notes – oops! **

_**Chapter 9: Contingency Plotting **_

**POV: Edward**

I knew Charlie wouldn't wait long to begin interrogating me about why we had encountered werewolves when we were supposed to be hunting a vampire, and because I had yet to decide how much to tell him, I stalled him by asking how he knew where to find me. He launched into an explanation which I hoped would be long so I could muse, or agonize as it were, over what had just happened without the bother of having to make conversation at the same time.

Under normal circumstances I could easily do both, but these were circumstances were an extremely far cry from normal, because there was nothing normal about Bella, my Bella, willingly helping that dog! _WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?! What reason could she possibly have…? _

Obviously the answer was 'to kill me', but what was her motivation for wanting to kill me? She said that being with me had caused her more trouble than it was worth; that was certainly true, but if all she wanted was to get away from me, why hadn't she simply gone home when Charlie and I tried to send her back? The things she did made no sense to me, and neither did Bella herself…

It was nearly impossible that I could have spent so much time with Bella and failed to realize that she wanted me dead; even if she was an excellent actress, her thoughts should have given her away – but they never had. _How did she manage that? It's true that some people are able to lie with their thoughts, or suppress things they shouldn't be thinking about, but only for a short time. __No one__ should be able to keep that up for… however long it took her and Black to make this plan._

I didn't try to calculate how long that might have been; seeing Bella with Black today had been painful enough without considering that she must have been with him ever since she left me and Charlie… and before then? That hurt so much it was almost a physical pain, so I forced myself to focus on something else.

When I heard Bella's thoughts today, they hardly sounded like hers at all; it was almost as if she was an entirely different person… _No, that's only wishful thinking, _my rational side retorted. Of course I wished there was a way to believe it wasn't really Bella there, with him, but there was none. The girl I saw less than half an hour ago, though dressed a bit differently, certainly looked like the Bella I knew – no, thought I knew, obviously I didn't – and smelled exactly the same.

That was the truly damning piece of evidence, because even if Bella had an identical twin (which seemed highly unlikely) the girl would only share her appearance, not her scent as well. The same went for any other impostor, except possibly one with an extraordinarily strong perception-altering talent. _But even if a vampire with such a talent exists, Black would never work with a vampire, and the odds of him finding a human with precisely the gift he could use to get to me are just too long… I never even knew a human could be so powerful until I met- _

I stopped before I got to her name – thinking of her was painful now; if missing her when I thought she'd gone home was like a constant headache, learning of her betrayal was like being stabbed through the heart… I had never known anything in me was capable of feeling this bad… _if only it were actually related to some physical part of me… something I could tear out to be rid of this pain… I would do it!_

Charlie, who I had almost forgotten as he droned on, suddenly recalled my attention by falling silent. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said I hope past experience's given you some way to predict the pack's next move, 'cause I'm afraid I've got nothing."

"Predict the pack's next move?" I repeated. "I think I know a way of doing that. It won't be easy, but it can be done – with a little help. Go get your things ready in case we need to relocate; I have to make a phone call."

"Who do you- wait, never mind; I probably don't want to know. I'll leave you to it." He let me out of the car and drove on by himself, and I flipped open my phone just in time to answer an incoming call from the very number I'd intended to dial.

"Hello, Alice; tell me, is preemptively calling everyone that you see is about to call you just a particularly obnoxious idiosyncrasy of yours, or do you only do it to me?"

"Don't be annoyed at me for getting impatient, Edward; I've been expecting for you to call me since your unfortunate run-in with our favorite canines, and you kept me waiting for almost thirty minutes!" I could see her pouting as clearly as if she were standing in front of me, instead of on the other side of the planet.

"You saw – or rather did not see – that incident? Alice, please tell me that was just a random vision!"

"All right, it was just a random vision – if you don't mind being lied to. If you want the truth, I've had my eye on you from the day you and your human dropped off the rest of the world's radar. Congratulations on putting up with such a… concentrated dose of the Swans' company, by the way. Between you and me, nobody else thought you would last this long without killing at least one of them; Emmett lost more than a few thousand on that bet-"

I cut Alice off as my temper finally boiled over. "You've been watching me ever since Bella and I left Chicago, have you? Yes, Jasper would have you do that, of course; but since we're no longer together I need to know, are you only watching me, or her too? And DON'T LIE TO ME!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Alice said, coolly ignoring my outburst. "After Bella split from you and her father, I more or less quit paying attention to her future; she should be completely safe with her mother, and Jasper wasn't interested in her family bonding time. I asked if he wanted to get her back once she was back in the States, but he said she could probably use some downtime and he didn't need her talent for anything at the moment. Personally, I think he decided she's too much trouble without you around to take care of her. So no, you've been my first priority since you and Bella parted ways."

Assuming that Alice was indeed telling the truth, then Jasper and company didn't know that Bella had switched sides. That was good; it meant I had time to make my own plans for dealing with her before anyone else (namely Jasper) stepped in and told me how to deal with her.

"Do you want me to check on Bella, make sure your furry friend hasn't snatched her again?"

"No, I'm sure she's perfectly fine," I quickly assured Alice, "I only want your help finding the pack and tracking their movements."

"You do remember that I can't see werewolves, don't you, Edward?"

"I know you can't see what they're doing, but surely you can find their general location, can't you?"

"Of course I can, but I want you to know it'll be hard: my talent is best for finding a certain person's future, but because I can't see those blasted dogs I'll have to go by geographical location and any transportation they might decide to use, and look for blind spots in the future of those things! And do you have any idea how frustrating it is, looking for what I CAN'T SEE?!!"

In spite of how miserable I still felt, I had to laugh at my mental image of the furious little pixie. "No, I don't, but I'm sure you'll replay your memories of it the instant I'm close enough to hear your mind."

"You've got that right. Well if you'll excuse me, I have an exercise in aggravation to begin; you're just lucky that I'm not human, or my blood pressure would go through the proverbial roof, causing me all kinds of health problems… and I'd send you all my medical bills."

"Yes, I'm sure you would. Goodbye, Alice, and thank you." I could tell she was irritated at me for not showing more gratitude, but I couldn't talk to her for another minute; my mind was already on Bella – again. What was I going to do about her?

I knew what Jasper would say: if she'd sided with Black she was an enemy, a dangerous liability – and those had to be eliminated. Eliminate Bella… would I do that? Could I do that? Yes, I'd like nothing better than to rip the backstabbing snake limb from limb… make her feel some tiny fraction of the pain she'd caused me… because I had loved her.

Even now, part of me still loved her – enough to stop me from killing her? _I doubt I'll know until the moment comes when I have to decide, after Alice tracks her and Black down and I catch up to them. Meanwhile, I have a more immediate decision to make: do I tell Charlie about her working with Black, or hide it from him? _

If I thought she was a danger to him, I'd have no choice but to warn Charlie – but she had already had a perfect opportunity to hurt him, and all she'd done was steal his phone. Apparently I was her only target, so all I had to worry about was whether Charlie would be hurt if he knew about his daughter's recent activities.

_Would he care if he found out that she tried to kill me? A few days ago I would have said 'not a chance' but I like him a lot better than I did a few days ago; is it possible that he likes me better as well? And what about Jasper? _Asking Alice to look for the pack made it quite possible, even probable, that she would somehow uncover Bella's involvement with them; I didn't know how she might do that, but she was clever enough that I couldn't rule it out.

If Alice realized that Bella was helping Black, it would only be a matter of time until Jasper also knew; and because he knew about my feelings for Bella, he would send someone else to take care of her, or to make certain that I did. That probably meant Emmett, Rosalie, or both – _definitely both, if he thought I might try to help Bella get away from them _– and if it looked like Charlie would help Bella escape them (which he would) then they would kill him! _If I've ever been in a stickier situation, I can't remember it; this time it seems that no matter what I do, someone will end up dead – Charlie, Emmett, Rose, Bella, or me! _

Finally I decided that right now it was best for Charlie to stay unaware of what Bella had done; that way, if I got any advance notice that Jasper was sending Emmett and Rosalie after Bella, I could get Charlie to leave before they joined me. Of course, without the distraction of hunting the pack, it wouldn't be long before he discovered that Bella had never reached her mother; then he would either track me down and demand to know what had happened to her or, if he failed to see how I could have had a hand in her disappearance, he would just waste more time than any human had to waste on dead-end investigations.

_At least he'd be alive to waste time – that makes keeping him in the dark the best option, at least for now. I can get rid of him by telling him that Rose, Emmett, and I can handle the wolves without him… he can't spend much more time away from his job in any case… Anyway, this is just a contingency plan; maybe Bella will never go far enough from the wolves for Alice to see that she's not where she's supposed to be. _

_If Jasper never finds out about this, then perhaps I can just kill Black, capture Bella, and Charlie can take her home with no one any the wiser. I'll just go back to my old life, and hope to hell that Jasper forgets Isabella Swan ever existed… _And at that moment, although I was still unsure of whether I hated her or loved her, I wished she never had.

**A/N: Now I understand what SM meant about Edward over thinking everything – I spent almost four whole pages on his plans for stuff that might not even happen! Excuse me while I go bang my head against the nice brick wall… **


	11. Wild Card

**A/N: I meant to have this finished by Friday, but I went outside when it was too cold and got sick; there's actual coughing and chest pain involved. Yes, I am fishing for sympathy – or reviews, those make me feel better too! And yes, I'm also shameless, but where's a better place to be that way than online, where nobody can reach over and twist my ears, right? **

_**Chapter 10: Wild Card**_

**POV: Dark Bella**

I was starting to think contacting Jacob Black had been a serious mistake. I'd been counting on him to take care of my ex quickly so I could get away from him and all the other monsters like him and get back to my own life, but it looked like the world was out to muck up my plans right now.

Things started going wrong when dear old Dad showed up to help Edward; I was still seething over that failure, and what made it worse was that I couldn't decide who to blame for it! It wasn't my fault of course – I'd done everything I was supposed to, unless you counted me forgetting to tell Edward he wasn't allowed to run away. _But how was I supposed to think of that? He shouldn't have been able to run without fighting, and I __did__ stop him from doing that! _

I couldn't fairly blame Jacob either; he had done his part with getting the pack to the right place, and he would have killed Edward for me if Charlie hadn't busted in with his stupid C-4! Maybe I should be blaming Charlie for this fiasco – he wasn't supposed to get friendly with Edward, he wasn't supposed to care if I killed him! The whole situation was so infuriating that I actually growled as I slammed my fist repeatedly into the dark blue van driven by the pack.

"Hey, careful there Bella; you don't wanna hurt yourself." Anger had made me unobservant, and I hadn't noticed Jacob come back.

"What's it to you if I do?" I muttered. I really wanted to tell him to buzz the heck off, but unfortunately I still needed him, and he was big enough that he just might be able to hurt me if I made him mad.

"Nothing," he said with a shrug. "But if you break your hand you'll have to go to a hospital, and that'll be one more place Cullen and your dad can trace you. Anyway, I came to tell you what our next move is; are you interested or not?"

"That depends. Does our next move still involve running away with our tails – well, just your tail, I don't have one – between our legs?" I tried to keep my voice as level as possible, but it still shook just a little with badly-suppressed fury. _They seemed so badass when they kidnapped me, I would never have guessed that werewolves are really just a bunch of wimps in fur coats! Sheep in wolves' clothing… how ironic. _

Jacob sighed. "Look, I know you're not happy about this, and neither am I… but it's what we have to do, Bella. Now that Cullen's onto us, it would be stupid to just sit around here and wait for him to come after us – and you know he will. He's taken a serious personal hit with you, and he'll try to pay us back for it. You especially. I almost think it would be better if you just left, let me handle this-"

"No freaking way, Black! If you honestly think I'd just run and let you have all the fun, think again."

"This isn't about fun, Swan! That vampire is probably really pissed at you for backstabbing him, and he might try to hurt you if he sees you again. I don't want a human's death on my conscience."

"So the beast has a soft side – who'd have thought? Would it make your conscience feel better if I said that Edward can't hurt me; he can't do a single thing I don't want him to, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. Sorry, it's just weird, working with a human like you. I'm so used to you humans being powerless, but you're really not."

"And don't you forget it. So, we have to leave France; where do we go, back to the States?" That wouldn't be so bad; it would be familiar territory, something I had really missed since Edward and I left Chicago.

"Is that where you'd like to go? If we went there we'd have to find someplace the bloodsucker wouldn't think to look for us while we planned the best way to come at him next…"

"Yes, let's go back there; how should we go, legal or illegal?"

"Illegal's quicker, but your boyfriend wouldn't have a real hard time tracking illegal travel-"

"And Charlie could track legal just as easily. All right, illegal it is if that's fastest – I want this job over with." It was starting to give me one hell of a headache.

**POV: Jacob**

We flew back to the U.S. of A. in a cargo plane belonging to an arms smuggler I'd helped out a few years ago when one of his clients got on the wrong side of one of the country's bloodsucker covens – and there were way too many of them in my book. If I'd had my way, Leah and I would've been taking them apart together – but that could never happen, thanks to Cullen.

Just thinking about him made my blood boil, and remembering how he'd slipped through my fingers again… I clenched my fist as heat waves ran down my spine. It was hard, but I forced the heat back; an airplane wasn't an ideal place to phase. _Just take it easy; we'll have the leech soon enough… _Sure, Bella's dad had thrown a wrench into things this time, but next time we'd be ready for him, wouldn't we?

It was hard to say; these humans were wild cards like I'd never seen before, and-

"Hey Jake, got a minute?" It was Paul.

"Yeah, what's on your mind?"

"That Swan girl is," he said, lowering his voice to be sure he didn't wake her. "Jacob, I really don't think we can trust that chick."

I stayed silent, waiting for him to go on. "I know she had him back there, and we could've finished him off right there-"

"That's right, we could've – and she helped us get him there. I don't see what your problem with her is, Paul."

"It's hard to explain, but there's just something shifty about her, man. I mean sometimes she gets this look in her eyes… and I still think it's fishy that she would even come to you in the first place! Think about it; the first time we met her, she was falling all over herself to help the bloodsucker, and then she decides she's tired of him and wants to switch sides? I know you think you're doing something good here getting her away from him, and you're getting what you want out of the deal too, but I still say something's not right here."

I held up a hand to stop him. "Look, Paul, this is old news, okay? I know you don't like Bella – hell, she creeps me out too sometimes – but right now we can use her."

"And what about after we don't have a use for her anymore?"

"Then we cut her loose. She can go back to whatever she was doing before she hooked up with Cullen, and we can go back to pack business as usual without him popping up making a nuisance of himself every few years – everybody wins."

"Sure they do."

**POV: Paul (Bet you didn't see this one coming!)**

I could see that arguing more with Jake was useless, so I went back to the back of the plane to wait out the rest of the flight. Yeah, Jake was the Alpha, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he was dead wrong about Swan. Even though I hadn't come right out and said it, what I was really thinking was _if she could decide she wanted to take out the guy she used to love (at least it had looked like she did) who's to say she wouldn't do another 180 and try to do the same thing to __us__?_

As far as I was concerned you could never trust a backstabbing bitch, and that's exactly what she was. I was also pretty sure she was some kind of psycho; like I'd told Jake, sometimes when I looked at her I got this feeling… like I was seeing a mask, not a real person. And when the mask slipped, I saw something really ugly behind it.

Jared elbowed me. "Any luck convincing Jacob that Swan's bad news?"

I snorted. "'Course not – they've got too much in common, what with both of them being obsessed with wasting Eddie-the-Asshole Cullen. Don't get me wrong, I hate him too, but we could snuff him on our own. We don't need his ex-girl toy to kill him!" I snarled, pounding the floor of the plane.

"Right, we could get rid of Cullen without Swan – that's why yesterday was the closest we've gotten to nailing him in a decade. But you might still be right about her; she gives me the creeps too, you know."

"Yeah, she gives everyone the creeps because she's one creepy-ass bitch, but there's not a whole lot we can do about it."

"We can keep an eye on her," Jared suggested. "If there is anything… not entirely on the up-and-up… about her, we'll catch it sooner or later. Nobody can keep up an act twenty-four seven, right?"

**POV: Dark Bella**

The tub of a plane that Jacob had appropriated for our flight home touched down with way more bouncing and bumping than was necessary, jarring every bone in my body and making my head throb; then Jacob shook my shoulder as if my teeth hadn't been rattled enough for one day. "Hey, wake up, we've landed," he announced.

_No shit, _I thought, _and how does the idiot think I could __possibly__ need waking up? This landing could've woken a coma patient! _I opened my eyes and did my best to put on a semi-pleasant expression. "That's great, thanks. Do you mind if I take off for a while? I could really use some fresh air after all that time on the plane."

He probably agreed, but I wasn't paying attention; in the first place, I didn't much care what Jacob did or didn't mind and in the second place, I had more pressing problems than him. The headaches I'd had weeks ago were back, and worse than they used to be.

I went into the nearest convenience store to buy painkillers, and the checkout counter guy's eyes widened when he saw me. "What?" I snapped.

"Uh, nothing, just – you've got-" He ran a finger under his nose. I copied the gesture, and my finger came away wet and smeared dark red.

"Ah, great. Here's this," I handed over the money for my Tylenol, "and where's the bathroom?" The guy pointed to the right, and I followed his directions to a dingy, smelly room that hardly deserved the title of 'bathroom'; anyone who tried to take a bath in here would end up dirtier than when they came in! Trying not to gag at the stench from the toilets, I hurried past them to the cracked mirror and took a look at myself.

_Yuck, I look terrible! _My face was ashy pale, except for my bloody upper lip, and the wisps of hair that had pulled out of my clip looked stringy and dull. And since when did my cheekbones stick out so much? I looked like I'd gotten one of those insane fat-sucking treatments from a maniacally overenthusiastic doctor. Or worse, like an anorexic vampire.

I laughed quietly at the irony of that as I cleaned up my nosebleed with a wet paper towel. It would be just my luck, wouldn't it, to decide I wanted nothing more to do with vampires only to start resembling one – now I couldn't look at my own face in the mirror without being reminded of him! "Get out of my head already!" I hissed, and slammed my fist into the middle of my vampiric-looking reflection. Cracks spider webbed through the disturbing image, ruining it and leaving thin cuts on my knuckles; then I choked down the Tylenol with rancid-tasting water from the faucet and hurried out.

Halfway down the block, I got a prickly feeling on the back of my neck that usually meant I was being watched. If I was in a better mood I might have tried ducking behind a dumpster and waiting to see who came along, but today I had no patience for those kinds of games. _All right, whoever you are; get your sorry outfit over here where I can see you._

Imagine my surprise when Paul and Jared slunk around the corner, looking abashed at being caught – as well they should. Well, I wasn't really surprised to see Paul, as I'd known for some time that he really disliked or distrusted me, or both (and it was seriously starting to get on my nerves); but I'd thought Jared was smarter than this. Obviously I'd made a mistake, and it was going to be a costly one – for him. "Hello, boys," I said in a fake-sweet tone. "Looks like all three of us decided to take a walk on exactly the same street; what a coincidence! Or is it? 'Cause I gotta say, guys… a paranoid person might think you were following me. Now, why would you do that?_ And don't even __think__ about lying to me._"

"Because I don't trust you, bitch!" Paul exploded.

"O-kaay…" I dragged the word out obnoxiously, "in the first place, you really need to _stop calling me 'bitch'_; in the second place, _tell me why you don't trust me_." I smirked as I watched Paul try to fight my control for a minute before giving in.

"Well first you were with that leech – said you loved him-" he spat the words out as if they tasted disgusting, "-and then you have some falling-out with him and decide you wanna kill him? Doesn't exactly make you look like a great person, Swan," he snarled.

"And you?" I glanced over at Jared.

"Agree with Paul – for once – that there's something off about you. So keeping an eye on you seemed like a good idea."

I chuckled humorlessly. "Here's the thing, though – it really wasn't. See now you've pissed me off, and this is one fight you shouldn't have picked."

Paul snorted. "I'm not scared of fighting you, little girl."

"Of course you're not – you're way bigger and stronger than me, and you could tear me apart in less than two minutes; which is why I have absolutely no intention of fighting you myself. I think I'd rather watch you _tear each other apart_." Both wolves' eyes went comically wide as they felt the mental push behind my words, and they put more effort into resisting me than anyone ever had; but I just gave one extra-hard shove with my mind, and their resistance went out like a light.

Controlling those ridiculously stubborn werewolves made my headache ratchet up for several seconds, but it was worth it when the fur started flying. I watched with satisfaction as the wolves tore each other apart, just like I told them to; as much fun as it was to control people, using that control to make them all self-destructive was even more fun!

This little incident had also given me a fantastic idea; if werewolves were able to kill each other, then surely vampires could do the same? So, if I could just find the right moment when Edward hooked up with his old friends again (which was more than likely if he tracked me back to the U.S.) then I could have them take care of him for me. That would be fun to watch… and best of all, it meant I wouldn't have to play nice with these stupid werewolves anymore.

_So long, Jake, _I thought, grinning. _I'm outta here – but first I think I'll exact a little payback for that time you kidnapped me. _Now I was almost happy enough to dance, headache or no headache – how often was it that you came up with a perfect plan to get rid of everyone you didn't like?

**A/N: So how'd you like that? Did I make evil Bella psycho enough? Now I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the werewolves, and they're supposed to be the 'bad guys' in this story! But…I don't think I feel bad enough to let up on them (laughs evilly).**


	12. Collision Course

**A/N: My apologies (in advance) to Jacob fans; sorry, guys! Please don't kill me! If you think I'm being too harsh to Jake in this story, you might enjoy NicoleMarin's songfic to the All-American Rejects' 'Gives You Hell', which is much kinder to him. Actually, go read it whether you dislike my treatment of Jacob or not; her fic's well worth the short time it takes to read, and I think she's one of the more talented new writers on this site.**

**Question for my readers: do you want Edward and (the real) Bella to get back together at the end or not? Please tell me if you have a preference.**

_**Chapter 11: Collision Course **_

**POV: Jacob**

_Where the __hell__ are Paul and Jared? _I hadn't seen them since the pack left the airport hangar and headed to our new motel, but they hadn't told me they were going anywhere. None of the other wolves had any clue where they might've got to either, and it was really starting to bug me.

"Just chill out, Jake; Paul an' Jared'll come back whenever they feel like it," Embry said calmly, lounging on the pack's van like he didn't have a care in the world.

I turned on him, snapping, "And what makes you so sure? It's not like them to just take off without telling any of the pack where to find them or when they'll be back! Well, maybe it's like Paul, but not Jared. If I haven't heard from them in the next fifteen minutes, I'm phasing and going out to look for them."

Embry straightened up and got off the van; he could tell I was serious if I was thinking about phasing to look for the AWOL pack members. "You think something could've happened to them? Hey…" his eyes widened, and his face took on an apprehensive look, "you don't think Cullen caught up to us already – caught up to them – do you?"

"I don't know what to think, Embry; all I know is that the longer they're gone, the twitchier I feel. I can just tell something's up here, y'know?"

He shrugged. "Hey, you're the Alpha. If you say something's wrong, I say I'll go check it out with you."

"Even if we might run into a pissed-off Cullen and company?"

"Sure, why not; if we do, we'll give the bloodsucking bastard what's coming to him, whether we've got Swan there to freeze him up or not. I bet she'll be pissed if we get him without her, but so what, right? It's not like she could actually do anything, being a human and all."

"Yeah- yeah, that's right. She can't really do one damn thing." I said the words, but I didn't believe them. None of the other wolves had had as much contact with Bella as I had, never talked to her… never seen the steely glint in her eyes when she talked about Cullen and the other leeches. Human or not, that wasn't the look of someone who couldn't do anything, although I wasn't sure of what exactly she could do. Probably nothing I wanted to find out about.

I shook Bella out of my head and said, "Okay, let's go track down Jared and Paul, and they better have a good explanation for being gone so long or their butts are toast."

***

As a wolf I was able to listen for Paul's and Jared's mental voices, but I couldn't hear anything – so they hadn't phased, then. I didn't really think they would have while we were in a city, even the crummy outskirts of one, but it never hurt to check. Since they weren't in their fur, Embry and I were down to trekking around trying to catch their scents.

Some people might think of that as a great adventure – tracking something down with no fancy gadgets or help from anything but your own five senses, just like Davy Crockett or some other pioneer yahoo in the covered wagon days – but I'm here to tell you, those people are freakin' knuckleheads. Well to be fair, maybe it would've been fun before the age of pollution and cities with endless mazes of streets and alleyways; but now it was just a pain in the neck, and after an hour and a half Embry and I were just about at the end of our ropes.

I was close to taking Embry's advice and heading back to the rest of the pack to see if Paul and Jared had already rejoined them when I caught a whiff of very familiar smells, but wrong somehow. It was them, all right, but mingled with something else, something that they weren't supposed to smell like. Salty, rusty, tangy – it was blood! I bolted in the direction the smell had come from, ignoring Embry's startled exclamation. He ran after me, yelling, "What the hell, Jake?! What-?"

He choked off midsentence when he caught the scent too, and because when we reached its source, we both saw what quite clearly. Paul and Jared – bits of them – were scattered over the sidewalk like pieces of werewolf piñatas after a brutal birthday party! Neither of us said anything; there were no words for this. We turned and ran back the way we'd come, back to the pack.

***

"Hey, we've been wondering where you two- hey, what's the matter?" Quil asked when he saw our faces. "Did you not find Paul and Jared? They haven't made it back yet-"

"They're not coming back. They're dead," I said shortly.

Quil's mouth dropped open. "Dead? But… how?"

"Ripped apart," Embry replied.

"Vampires?"

"Jake and I didn't smell any near where we found the bodies, but I can't think of anything else that could've done this, do you?"

It was clearly a rhetorical question, so instead of answering Quil asked, "You think whoever did it might still be in the neighborhood? Maybe we should get the rest of the pack and have a look around, huh?"

"Yeah, that might not be a bad idea," I agreed. "You can help me haul the guys out from in front of the TVs." _Not that they'll need much hauling after they hear about Paul and Jared. _

"Will do; and while we're looking around, we should keep an eye out for Swan too."

Distracted, I said, "Oh, is she not here?"

Quil shrugged. "Haven't seen her if she is. I don't know where she skipped off to after we got off the plane, do you?"

"All I know is that she went for a walk; said she needed some fresh air or something. If she's still out there, either the same thing happened to her that happened to Jared and Paul or she takes a hell of a long time to fill up her lungs. Okay, let's hit the streets, guys."

Embry, Quil, and I went down different hallways and began rousing the rest of the wolves and telling them to meet in the parking lot; I only wanted to recount the story of my grisly discovery once. I shoved open the last door on my hall, and was very surprised to find Bella Swan behind it instead of another wolf. "What are you doing here?" I barked.

She blinked, confused. "Um, where else would I be?"

"I dunno, but Quil says he never saw you come in; I thought you must still be out."

"Well what can I say – I'm quiet. I'm sorry, did you want me to check in or something?"

"No, you don't have to do that. It would've been nice to know where you were, but I'll let it slide this time."

Bella smiled a strange smile, almost a smirk, and not very pleasant-looking. "That's nice of you, Jacob – letting things slide. Not everyone's that nice, you know; some people are really bad grudge-holders…"

"Yeah, I guess so," I said cautiously; what the hell was she on about?

"…Like Paul was."

"Paul was a hot-head, all right," I agreed, edging away from her as I spoke. There'd been something vaguely creepy about this girl since day one, but I'd overlooked it because our aims meshed; now, though, she was starting to freak me out a little.

My sidestepping away from Bella brought me closer to her bathroom door, which was shut – the only reason why I hadn't caught the smell until now. _A salty, rusty tang… _"Hey, what's in there?" I asked sharply.

"Why don't you just open the door and see?"

Busting through the door, I found a shirt covered with clumps of fur and bloodstains in the sink – and the blood smelled inhuman and familiar! Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered that Bella had used the past tense when she mentioned Paul, like she already knew he'd died, and a furious red tinge washed over my vision, turning everything as bloody as Bella's shirt.

I charged back into the other room like I expected Bella to still be hanging around; and for some insane reason she was, leaning against the door into the hall – which she'd apparently closed – with her hands clasped behind her back. "How did you know to say 'Paul was a bad grudge-holder' when you talked about him, and how'd all this blood and fur get on your shirt?!" I hurled it across the room at her, but she didn't even flinch when it landed at her feet.

"Oh, come on, Jacob – even you can't be that dense, can you? How do you think I could have gotten that crap all over my shirt, hmm?"

"Paul and Jared… you killed them…" Saying it felt wrong, because how could a puny little girl like her – just a weak human – get the better of two werewolves who'd phased, for crying out loud?!

Maybe my skepticism showed on my face, or maybe she was just good at reading people, because she snorted. "Duh, of course I wasn't able to kill them – although I wish I could've, after the way Paul slapped me around and tied me to that stupid chair the time you kidnapped me; but I couldn't, so I had to settle for watching them do it to each other. They tried very hard not to, you know, but they underestimated me, just like all you more-powerful-than-thou immortals."

This was too much, impossible to wrap my head around. "You were able to force pack members to turn on each other? No one's supposed to be able to do that! We-"

"Like I said, it wasn't easy; in fact it gave me a hell of a headache. That's why I won't be making wolves fight each other again anytime soon. I have something different in mind for you, Jake." Her insane grin widened even more as she pushed herself off the door and finally brought her hands into view. "All of your precious pack will be fine this time; nobody has to get hurt but you," she promised, holding her gun out to me. "You know what happens next."

**POV: Evil Bella**

After ordering Jacob to shoot himself, I didn't stick around to watch him do it; I'd already bloodied up enough of my wardrobe, so I climbed out the window (not as difficult a feat as it might have been since my room was on the two-story motel's ground level) and was hurrying across the parking lot before I heard the silencer-muffled gunshot. I stopped for a second, the idea flitting through my mind that maybe, just maybe, I'd been too cruel, but I shook it off.

It wasn't like I really enjoyed this kind of thing – not so much that I couldn't stop, anyway – at least I didn't think so – but it had to be done no matter how I actually felt about it. Jacob Black was another person who'd wanted to use me for what I could do; sure, he said he'd let me leave after we were done with Edward, but would he really be so willing to give up the advantage I could provide in a fight? _Not bloody likely! _

Maybe I wouldn't have minded that so much – I certainly understood the exhilaration of being unbeatably powerful – but I was beginning to get a sneaking suspicion that frequent use of my mental 'push' wasn't exactly good for me. The Paul and Jared episode had shown me that pushing made my almost-perpetual headaches worse; I hadn't figured out the exact correlation or what it meant, but until I did I thought I might need to slack off somewhat. _All the more reason to get away from the pack… away from everyone I need to use this talent on. _

I secured my duffel bag to Jacob's motorcycle, started it up with the key I'd swiped from the pile of stuff he'd left in the pack's old van, and sped away from the wolves' latest temporary hangout; hopefully I'd be far away by the time they realized what I'd done.

Several miles, hours, and broken speed limits later, I stopped for some snack food and disposed of my gory shirt by tossing it down a storm drain. I doubted that anyone would find it, but if they ever did it would probably have policemen combing the town for a body; it looked like great evidence for a murder trial, but one where I'd be the victim rather than the defendant.

I left the town in my rearview mirror and was roaring down a lonely stretch of highway when the back of my neck prickled. I looked around, but there didn't seem to be anyone there, so I turned my attention back to the road; but then I heard something whistling through the air right toward me! Before I could pinpoint where or what it was, I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my throat.

My hand jumped to the pain's source, and I yanked out the object that had buried itself in my jugular. _A dart? What the hell…? _Suddenly my hand went limp, dropping the dart, and the other hand slipped, causing the motorcycle to wobble dangerously. I tried to straighten it up, but my eyes and mind were blurring; I couldn't even tell what direction the bike was heading in as it careened out of control and everything went dark.

**POV: Guess Who**

I watched Bella reel as the tranquilizer I'd shot her with took effect, but didn't make a single move – not yet. She finally lost control and slumped over the handlebars, unconscious. Once she was out cold her stolen motorcycle veered off the highway, dead-set on a collision course with any of the trees lining the roadside.

Fortunately for her, it tipped over before hitting the trees; less fortunately, it fell on top of her. _That's going to hurt in the morning, _I thought with grim satisfaction as I stalked forward and pulled the motorcycle off of her motionless form.

**A/N: Cue the ominous suspenseful music… and remember, if you kill me for the cliffhanger the story will never get finished!**


	13. Live Your Lie

**WARNING: this chapter has a double dose of Edward-angst, because… well, because Edward's in it. I could take the angst out, but then I'd have to kick him out of the story and I'm almost positive no one wants that to happen – but I might do it anyway (laughs evilly)! Oh, wait, no I won't, because then I'd have to rewrite the whole thing and as my mom can tell you, I don't love rewriting very much. We're stuck with him, doggone it! **

_**Chapter 12: Live Your Lie**_

**POV: Edward**

Charlie and I had barely disembarked from our plane (a commercial flight, since he wouldn't have gotten along well with most of the people I could have called for assistance with illegal travel) when I picked up a familiar strain of thoughts – Rosalie's. _Hey Edward, I'm pretty sure you can hear me by now, so ditch your new friend and get your butt out here! _

I shook my head – ever the polite one, Rose – and broke the news to Charlie that it was time for us to part ways. He seemed slightly disappointed that he wouldn't get to participate in the battle royal that would most likely ensue when we caught up with the pack, but he agreed that that sort of thing was probably best left to the vampires and wished me luck before leaving. I watched him go with a strange mix of relief and regret; there was after all a good chance that his daughter would be in the thick of said fight, and I couldn't decide whether to feel guilty about keeping that from him or glad that he would never have to see the uglier side of her.

_Better go with relief; this is one of the eventualities I planned for… something I can deal with… perhaps. _Whatever happened when we found the pack, it would be easier without Bella's father around… when I killed her. I was almost certain now that I would; my more violent impulses had been suppressed to whatever degree while I was with her – she had a very humanizing influence – but after discovering her true colors, I found that I really couldn't care anymore about trying to be a better person.

What use was it? I saw now that there truly were no good people in this world; there were only the transparently wicked and those who pretended to be better than they were so they could inflict worse pain on whoever, like me, was idiotic enough to care for them. Isabella Swan clearly belonged in the second category, and the world would be better off without her – I certainly would be at any rate.

I needed her out of the world I lived in because even now, even after seeing her for the traitor she was, part of me wanted nothing more than to believe that my time with her hadn't been all a lie… that she had really cared for me in some way. That was what hurt most – not finding out that she'd lied to me, but missing the lie so much that I wished I could have it back, that being deceived wouldn't be so bad if she would only pretend to be my Bella again, even if none of it was real…

Emmett thumped my forehead, jarring me back into the present. "Hey, anyone home in there? I don't mean to pry since I know how much you hate that, but it's been three hours and counting since we left the airport and you've done nothing but stare into space the whole time. I have to tell you, it's kind of creepy – like you've gone from vampire to zombie."

I blinked and looked around, disconcerted as I realized that indeed I had no idea where we were. "I'm sorry; my mind must have been somewhere else."

"I'll say," Rosalie snorted. "Look, I'm sure it must be tough to be spending so much time away from your girlfriend, but you need to get your head in the game so we can take care of Black and the rest of those mongrels; then you can go back to her like none of this ever happened."

I bit hard on my tongue to stop myself from retorting that I would never be able to go back to Bella, and nothing could ever put things back the way they were before this; as far as Rose knew, Bella was with her mother in Los Angeles, safely away from the werewolves and presumably missing me as much as I missed her. _If only… _

"You're right, of course," I pretended to agree with her. "I shouldn't let myself get so distracted. Now, did you have anything important to say, or were you merely checking to be sure that I hadn't slipped into catatonia (which you damn well know is impossible for a vampire)?"

"Well, that depends," Emmett said, raising his eyebrows at my acerbic tone, "Would you call it important if Alice called and told Rose that there's a whole edge of town that's like one big blind spot for her?"

_She's located the pack already? Impressive; I'll have to congratulate her next time we meet. _"Which town is this, exactly?"

"Some lower-class industrial hellhole of a slum right next to a mini-airport mostly used by cargo planes and the odd smuggler's jet – and I know of one such person who just happens to owe a favor to your furry friend, Jacob Black," Rosalie announced smugly. "Even better, it's only about forty-five minutes' drive to the dump. So, have I made your night now or what?"

I rolled my eyes. "At the risk of overinflating your opinion of yourself even more, yes, you have made my night; if it wasn't for Emmett being in the room, I'd kiss you," I told her sarcastically.

"Ah, I don't see any need for that much expression of gratitude," Rosalie said, looking rather alarmed.

***

We had barely made it inside city – well, town… dump – limits when three werewolves barreled into Rose's convertible, caving in the vehicle's sides; Emmett, Rosalie (who was shrieking about her new car getting smashed) and I jumped free of the wreckage, landing behind the wolves in order to trap them between us and the pile of twisted scrap metal.

Rose and Emmett tackled the pair on their side of the car and went straight to burning and throttling them, but I shoved mine against what was left of Rose's car and hissed in his ear, "Is Bella Swan still with your Alpha? Where are they?" The wolf growled defiantly, so I snapped one of the rearview mirrors off the side, smashed it, and picked up a shard of the broken glass. "Tell me where Black and Swan are and I'll let you go; keep it to yourself and I swear I'll shove this through your eyeball." As I spoke, I positioned my makeshift dagger to follow through with my threat if he didn't give me what I wanted.

He whimpered but thought, _you'll do that whether I tell you or not; why should I sell out Jake if I'm gonna get killed anyway? _

"I don't care about you," I snapped, "I only want to pay the girl back for helping your pack. I'd be perfectly happy to leave you alone-"

_Fine, _he cut me off. _But I don't know everything that's gone on since we got here! All I know is that Paul and Jared are dead – killed – and we went out to look for whoever did it. Swan took off by herself after we left the airport, and we never found out where she went before Jake and Embry found Paul's and Jared's bodies. I think Jake might've gone to look for the girl, but I don't know if anyone else went with him or if she's still not back at the motel- _

"What motel is this?" He thought the name and, _that's it, I promise! _"Good, now get out of my sight!" I released my grip on his throat and he ran away, tail tucked firmly between his legs.

"Did you just let him go?! WHAT THE HELL, EDWARD?!" Rosalie screeched.

"I saw no reason not to after he told me where to find Black," I said calmly, "But feel free to go after him yourself if you'd like."

She ground her teeth furiously. "Hell yes, I'd like," she snapped. "Well, where did he tell you to go?"

"He told me that the pack is spread out through this town at the moment; if we do the same, I think we can pick most of them off tonight." Neither of my companions liked the idea of splitting up, but I quickly convinced them it was for the best. It wasn't as though I was putting them at any risk with this plan – with Rosalie's firepower and Emmett's almost preternatural strength, both were more than capable of operating alone. In fact, I was probably in the most danger without backup; I couldn't burn my enemies with my bare hands, and I was no stronger than the vampire norm.

That might have been a problem if I planned on fighting a group of werewolves, but I didn't – at least, not just yet. I knew I needed to deal with her first or my head would be so clouded from anguish and the effort of trying (and for the most part failing) to convert it to anger that I wouldn't be very effective in combat.

I followed my unwilling informant's directions to a rather shabby overnight pit stop sort of place, exactly the type of accommodations favored by the pack, who essentially lived their lives on the road. Their motorcycle fleet was on the edge of the parking lot closest to the building; all except one. Jacob Black's distinctive black-and-silver Harley was missing, but his scent wasn't the strongest one in the air. Someone else had been here more recently than he had, someone who definitely smelled better than him or any of his pack… _Bella. _

***

My last experience with Bella had taught me that capturing her would be impossible unless her talent was negated; not an issue, at least not one that I couldn't solve with the right drug. The bigger issue was how to administer it. _If she was a vampire, I would have to trick her into drinking it, but because she's human an injection should work quite well. So really, the only problem will be getting a needle into her without getting close enough for her to see me and stop me._

The answer to that conundrum, ironically enough, had been provided by none other than Charlie; after his extremely successful use of C-4 when last we took on the pack I'd decided to learn a bit more about weapons of that sort – I needed the distraction, and they were inarguably as effective as the physical weapons my kind possessed. Charlie – who, it transpired, was only too happy to satisfy my curiosity – had given me a rundown on everything from bombs to dart guns, the latter of which seemed like precisely the thing for injecting Bella from a distance.

One quick break-in to the nearest store that stocked hunting equipment and I was off, tracking her by the scents she and her vehicle had left behind. Detecting an insubstantial trail laid down who knew how long ago was, to put it mildly, challenging; luckily, the stench of werewolf musk that clung to all of the pack's regularly-used vehicles was so strong in my nose that I was able to run with almost no pauses to pick it up again.

After an hour, maybe two, I heard the roar of Black's motorcycle (_why had a supposedly talented mechanic like him never outfitted it with a decent muffler?_), so I changed course to run through the trees rather than on the road, sped up until the noise was behind me, then stopped. She passed me not five seconds later; I whipped the dart gun out of my inside jacket pocket and fired.

My aim was accurate enough despite my inexperience at shooting; the hypodermic dart struck home, and I cringed at the soft sound of Bella's flesh tearing. _Oh, the situational irony_; finally engaging the target had always been my favorite part of tracking, yet this time I felt nothing of my usual anticipation. Nothing but the last echoes of resolve to carry out an assignment I now knew I wasn't going to finish – because forcing myself to hate my ex-girlfriend, even planning to kill her, was a world away from actually doing the deed.

I watched Bella reel as the tranquilizer I'd shot her with took effect, but didn't make a single move – not yet. She finally lost control and slumped over the handlebars, unconscious. Once she was out cold her stolen motorcycle veered off the highway, dead-set on a collision course with any of the trees lining the roadside.

Fortunately for her, it tipped over before hitting the trees; less fortunately, it fell on top of her. _That's going to hurt in the morning, _I thought with grim satisfaction as I stalked forward and pulled the motorcycle off of her motionless form. I avoided looking at her face as long as possible, because I knew what would happen when I did.

So close to her, I could no longer keep up my pretense of hating Bella; I could be hurt by her and angry with her, but that was beyond me. Whatever else she might be, she was also the first and last person I'd fallen in love with and I loved her still, no matter how irrationally. When she regained consciousness, I wasn't sure if I would rail at her for betraying me, for being someone I didn't particularly want to love, or beg her to take me back – but I wouldn't kill or hurt her, because how could I destroy the only thing that had ever brightened my otherwise bleak and meaningless existence?

_Well, she'll be out of commission for a while; I have quite enough time to figure out what's to be done with her before anything has to be done. _Unable to vent my destructive tendencies on the unconscious girl, I made Black's motorcycle the object of my misplaced aggression instead, and after it was reduced to scrap metal I turned my attention to Bella. "Hello again, my love," I murmured, brushing my thumb over her cheekbone. "We need to talk."

**A/N: Now that the mystery of Guess Who is solved, it's time to hand out congratulations to NicoleMarin, HorseyGal23, and moonifrui for getting it right (huge round of applause)! I think that's everyone who did, but if I forgot anyone tell me and I'll correct it next time I update.**

**By the way, I've found out that Bella and Edward will be together again in the end, because Mom told me so and how do you say no to Mom? Answer: you don't. Displeasing readers may be bad for authors' reputations, but displeasing The Boss is bad for this author's general health and life expectancy. **


	14. Heart to Nonbeating Heart

**Eyeglassed cat, Nat, Nicole, and Kelly – I'm sorry I haven't replied (yet) to the PMs/reviews you've sent me; please don't think my manners have taken a vacation to Tahiti! I promise I haven't been ignoring you guys out of rudeness, okay? I just… um… thought you might like a new chapter better and had to make the most of my reprieve from the serious WB I had for a while on this chappie. I'll try to write back to you tomorrow after I research Supreme Court case no. 07-1239 (don't ask). In the meantime, happy reading/writing!**

_**Chapter 13: Heart to (Non-beating) Heart**_

**POV: Edward**

I picked Bella up, turned her face into my chest where I couldn't see it anymore, and ran with her. Running was easy and required no thought other than where to go – a welcome reprieve, and one that didn't last nearly long enough. Crossing the borderline between New Mexico and Colorado only took about three hours, give or take ten minutes; it wasn't even two in the morning when I reached Blackwater Ridge and kicked open the door of an abandoned cabin at the edge of Pike National Forest.

Of course it hadn't always been abandoned, but the old park ranger who once called this place home was long gone and no one else had moved in since then, making this an ideal place to keep Bella until I could decide what to do with her. I carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the bare mattress; she moaned and shifted in her sleep but didn't wake up.

_Assuming that she hasn't slept in a while, she might take longer than she normally would to metabolize the drugs – it could be several hours before she comes around, _I realized. Moving closer, I pushed her hair back and finally allowed myself a long look at her face, only to pull back with a soft hiss; was this really the same girl I had seen less than a week ago?

If not for her scent, I would have found it impossible to believe she was, because even taking into account the stark moonlight that leeched the color from her skin and replaced it with almost macabre bluish-white tint, there was no doubt that she was much paler than she'd been when last I laid eyes on her. She was thinner too, her bones actually jabbing her skin as if her skeleton was attempting to break free of the flesh and muscle encasing it… as if something had literally begun sucking the life from her. "What's happened to you, Bella?" I asked softly, reaching out to touch her face.

Her lips quivered and she turned her head to press her cheek into my palm. "Edward… no… no, you're not really here. You can't be…"

"But I am, love." Whether my words reached her subconscious or not, it was too hard to resist talking to her.

"Can't be," she mumbled again; then, more clearly, she said, "You can't be here because I left. I left with Jacob Black… tried to get him to kill you for me… so you can't be here now."

"You never killed me," I reminded her. "After that I kept tracking you, and the wolves – but mostly you." Her brow furrowed as it always did when she was confused, so I leaned closer until my forehead almost touched hers and whispered, "I couldn't let go of you, Bella Swan. No matter what you've done, what you do, I'll never give you up."

Suddenly, Bella's eyes snapped open and stared into mine, but she didn't gasp or scream or react in any other way I might have predicted. Instead, she simply frowned and said, "I should've known that was way too vivid to be just a dream. I wish I could say 'hey, fancy seeing you here', but honestly, I kind of expected you'd catch up with me sooner or later."

She wriggled away from me, sat up, and took in her surroundings with a grimace. "And of course you'd take me to some place I've never seen before, but which you probably have – to make it harder if I tried to get away, right? Not that there's any chance of me doing that anyway; you're stronger, faster, and I'm guessing you've hunted recently enough that you won't have to leave me alone for that."

"Naturally."

Bella nodded. "So, now that we're past the chitchat segment of this program… what are you going to do to me?"

I gave her a look of polite puzzlement. "Do to you? I hadn't planned to do anything to you-"

"Right, you dragged me out – wherever we are – for conversation and maybe a checkers match or two?" She was clearly trying to provoke me into getting whatever she imagined I had in store for her over with quickly, but I didn't rise to her bait; I had already decided against harming Bella, so I was left with no other options besides trying to communicate with her… and hoping it wasn't all a wasted effort.

"Honestly, checkers wasn't quite what I had in mind – given the choice I prefer chess, but I doubt that this cabin has the paraphernalia for either – still, I would like to talk with you."

Judging by Bella's frown, she didn't particularly want to talk, but _what can I do about it? I can already feel that I won't be able to push him into letting me walk away; of course he's too smart to fall for that trick again. Damn it! If a talk is what he wants, it looks like I don't have much choice in the matter- _"-do I, Edward?"

"Not really, love."

Her hands clenched, whitening her knuckles and driving her fingernails into her palms. "Don't call me that!" she spat, turning away from me to pace the room angrily.

I was behind her before she'd taken two steps, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around to face me. "Why shouldn't I? I do love you after all; unlike you, I wasn't lying when I told you I did."

Bella jerked in my grasp, but I refused to let go. Our silent struggle continued for another seven seconds, or rather she struggled until I lost my patience and tightened my grip a bit. Not enough to crush her shoulder blade of course, but enough to make her see that resistance would get her nowhere; then she finally met my eyes and said the last thing I expected to hear. "And who says I was lying about loving you, Mr. Know-It-All?"

Staggered, stunned, astounded, flabbergasted, blown away, surprised, shell-shocked, appalled – I knew several words and expressions to convey utter amazement and disbelief, yet even as a corner of my mind scrolled through the list I knew none of them were sufficient for the way I felt now. I released Bella and backed away unsteadily, thrown off balance in more than one way.

She folded her arms and stood motionless until I recovered enough to gasp out, "But… if you ever really loved… how could you…?"

"How could I? How could I not? Do you have any idea how much I've been through since I met you that I wouldn't have had to deal with otherwise?! Only getting my entire life turned inside-out! Do you know what that did to me, Edward Cullen?!" she shouted.

I shook my head; this made less than no sense. "If you were unhappy, why did you stay with me? You could have gone back to Charlie or your mother; I wouldn't have stopped you if you wanted to leave, you know."

Bella laughed bitterly. "Well, when you say it like that… just walk away without a backward glance, huh? And if that didn't work, what then? What was I supposed to do if I couldn't leave you, huh Edward?"

"Bella… what are you saying? I don't understand you."

"Sure you do. I wasn't totally out right before I woke up, remember? I heard what you said – that you couldn't let go of me, right? If you really meant that, then you know exactly why I couldn't just go back home and forget about you."

"I did mean what I said, but I don't think it holds true for you as well; you tried to kill me, so I'm fairly certain that you had no trouble giving me up." I looked down as I said this, not wanting to show her how painful those words were, but I returned my gaze to her when she offered no response. She avoided eye contact and bit her bottom lip hard as if trying to swallow whatever she might say before it forced its way out of her mouth. "What is it, Bella?"

When she persisted in remaining silent, I pushed her against the wall, trapping her. That might have been a mistake; pressed so tightly to her, I couldn't resist touching her, brushing her face with my fingertips as I had just after I first knocked her out. Her breath came raggedly now, her heart thudding madly against my chest – it might have been fear, except that the scattered threads of her thoughts made it clear that she didn't find this at all unpleasant.

**Quick A/N: No, your eyes aren't playing tricks with that last line; all I can say about it is that even when Bella's evil, the attraction is definitely still there. And now it's time to switch over to-**

**POV: Evil Bella**

_Why am I not stopping him?! Duh, because he's stronger and he's given me something to dampen my 'push' power… that's an easy one… A better question is why I don't __want__ to stop him… _That one was pretty easy too – I didn't want to stop him because I loved the way Edward touching me felt, would probably have been missing it like crazy since I took off with Jacob if I hadn't shoved all my good memories with him to the back of my mind.

Edward smiled with a not-altogether-pleasant kind of satisfaction and I knew he'd picked up my thoughts, and that he seemed to enjoy being able to affect me like this. His fingers went from my face to my hair, to tuck it behind my ear; he leaned closer, and for a wild moment I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead he just whispered in my ear, "Now, what were you going to say about not having trouble giving me up? Tell me, Isabella."

"I- I don't know what you're talking about," I lied in a faltering voice that I knew was especially unconvincing.

"You know that won't work, love. Tell me," he demanded, his smoldering golden eyes scorching into mine.

_No! No, no, NO! _This was the very thing I hated about Edward, his ability to dazzle me into doing whatever he wanted… this was why I'd decided to get rid of him once and for all… this was something I couldn't take. "You're right; I didn't have trouble giving you up – because I never did, I never could, anymore than you could give up on me. That's why I couldn't leave you, even after I realized how destructive this thing with you was… one way or another, I couldn't stay away from you."

Understanding lit up Edward's smile like one of those cartoon light bulbs, but infinitely brighter. "So, if you needed to kill me before you could leave me… that must mean you still feel something for me." He smiled, obviously pleased by this discovery.

I was coming apart. I wasn't supposed to feel this way about him, not after everything I'd been dragged into by or because of him, and if I admitted it then all my efforts to extricate my life from his were meaningless and I was right back where I'd started. Still, maybe where I'd started wasn't so bad; sure, my life was tangled up with all the vampire mafia crap, but I used to be happy with him… didn't I?

Either way, I didn't have it in me to keep fighting much longer; already I felt like some evil construction worker was using a jackhammer on my skull, making my head pound so hard I couldn't think past the pain… It was all I could do to choke out the words I'd tried to deny for so long – the ones that would rip, crush, and reverse my identity all over again, or maybe repair the part of me that was already broken.

"I do feel something for you… I never stopped… I love you, Edward." There. I'd said it. It was out. Too late to do anything about it now; too late to do anything but watch as my vision fractured into a kaleidoscopic array of colors, blurred, and finally went dark.

**POV: Edward **

I had perhaps two seconds of exhilaration after Bella said she still loved me before her mind went blank, her eyes unfocused and rolled back in her head, and her body fell limp. "Bella?! Bella, wake up!" I carried her back to the bed and concentrated all my energy on trying to read some hint of what was happening in her head to make her pass out, although of course an unconscious person didn't have thoughts per se – nothing but vague impulses sparking through their dulled brain waves.

Whatever was sparking through her brain at the moment was absolutely incomprehensible; it was as if her mind was somehow reversing its polarity – at least, that was the best description I could think of using the few brain cells I possessed that weren't consumed with panic and frustration over the complete lack of anything I could do to help her.

After a tense minute, Bella's scattered mind spiraled back into its normal rhythm. Her eyes opened, but she seemed to have some difficulty processing what she saw. I held my breath as I waited anxiously for her to give some indication that her mind had not been erased by whatever sort of fit she'd suffered; losing her like that just after I'd gotten her back would be too much, unbearable… Surely fate couldn't be so cruel, could it?

**Longer A/N: I borrowed the name Blackwater Ridge from Supernatural season 1, episode 2 'Wendigo', although I'm not absolutely sure whether there really is such a place; on the show, they said it was near Lost Creek, Colorado, which I know is either close to or part of Pike National Park – I did actual research, but I forget the details since I've slept since then!**

**I'm setting up a new poll related to this story, so please go to my profile for more info and vote, all right?**

**Last but not least, I know I'm leaving you with one of those darn cliffhangers (sorry, moonifrui!) so here's a little preview to mitigate the cliffie… maybe enough that I won't get fruit or cyber-punches thrown at me…**

POV is Bella's – finally the real one again!

Waking up was harder than normal, like my brain was covered in cobwebs that I had to brush off. Everything was so foggy… or maybe foggy wasn't the right word, because I could see perfectly clearly… but the things I saw made no sense.

"Bella, love, are you… awake now?"

Was I? That velvety voice sounded like the kind of thing that belonged only in dreams, but I really doubted that I was or ever would be capable of dreaming up anything that even came close to- "-Edward?"


	15. In and Out of Mind

**A/N: I hope this doesn't seem like total filler; it's mostly Edward-and-Bella fluffiness, but hey, this story's been missing that for a while, right?**

_**Chapter 14: In and Out of Mind **_

**POV:** **Bella (the not-evil one this time)**

Waking up was harder than normal, like my brain was covered in cobwebs that I had to brush off. Everything was so foggy… or maybe foggy wasn't the right word, because I could see perfectly clearly, but the things I saw made no sense.

"Bella, love, are you… awake now?"

Was I? That velvety voice sounded like the kind of thing that belonged only in dreams, but I really doubted that I was or ever would be capable of dreaming up anything that even came close to- "-Edward?" I blinked, but his perfect face didn't disappear; finally satisfied that I wasn't dreaming, I pushed myself up off of… whatever I was lying on.

To my surprise, Edward pushed me back down. "Bella, no, I don't think you should get up just yet." Slowly, it registered that he looked worried about something – about me?

"Edward, what's wrong?" I glanced around in case there might be some clue as to what was wrong that I'd missed, and realized that I had absolutely no memory of this place; not even of coming here. "What- h- how… where am I?"

"You don't remember? How is that possible?" It sounded like he was talking to me, but he might as well have been talking to himself or to the wall behind me, because I couldn't make heads or tails of anything he was saying.

"How's it possible that I don't remember what? Edward, what the heck's going on here? What is this place, and why don't I remember getting in here? Did I… did I pass out or something? And now that I think of it, what are you even doing here?"

I slid out from under Edward's hand and sat up to look him in the eyes; he seemed only slightly less confused than me. After another moment, he snapped out of it and asked, "Bella, what's the last thing you do remember?"

"Um…" Pulling up my last memory before waking up here – wherever here was – shouldn't be this hard, should it? "The last thing I remember is you and Charlie dropping me off at the airport – you wanted me to go and stay with Renee… what changed your mind about that? Edward, I- I don't think I ever got on that plane – did I?"

He gave me a long, searching look before answering. "No, Bella, you never got on your plane. And you swear you can't remember anything between then and now?"

"Yes," I said emphatically. "Why would I lie about something like that? Anyway, you can read my mind; I doubt I could lie to you even if I wanted to! Okay, not to sound like an annoying broken record, but what the hell's going on here?!"

Edward got up and started pacing; I watched him with increasing exasperation. Whatever had gone down since I last saw him at that airport, he seemed to have a better idea about it than I did, and he thought he'd just ignore me, did he? _We'll just see about that. _I got up as well, intending to demand that he explain everything to me, but standing made me dizzy and I had to brace myself against the rickety bed I'd just climbed off.

Almost instantly, I felt Edward's cold hands wrap around my waist and turned so I could lean on him instead. "Edward, please; I don't understand what's happening, why I apparently have this gaping hole in my memory, and I'm just trying to figure this out. Please, tell me what happened."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Bella, and it's not important anyway. You're all right now and we're together; that's all that matters to me."

"Okay. Okay, I can live with that." He pulled me closer and held me tight, and of course I hugged him back. Holding him gave me the strangest sense of relief; although I couldn't remember being away from him, somehow I felt like I had been – like I'd gone days without seeing him. _How did that happen? Just how long have I been… out of it… and what have I __done__ in this time I have no memory of? Have I been unconscious for a really long time, or walking around like a zombie, or-?_

"I wish you'd quit thinking about that," Edward said suddenly; his hand fastened over my chin and tilted my head up so I was staring into his amber eyes. "As I just said, it doesn't matter anymore; I suggest you put it out of your mind."

Part of me wanted to argue with him – obviously he'd never woken up with amnesia, or he would know it wasn't the kind of thing you could just forget (pun intended) – but I shut that part up. I didn't want to fight with Edward, and I instinctively knew that it would be useless. Whatever he'd decided not to tell me, I could tell he wasn't going to budge on it.

"All right, I'll put it out of my mind. So, assuming that where we are and why we're here is part of what I'm supposed to not think about-"

"This is Blackwater Ridge," Edward interrupted to inform me; at my pointedly blank look, he elaborated, "it's part of Pike National Park, Colorado. As for why we're here – I think I would rather keep that to myself, at least for now."

"Right. Well, did we… finish up whatever we came for, or is there a good reason for us to still be here?"

"Not exactly; would you like to leave?"

"I think so, yeah. I don't know how you've managed not to notice, but this place is kind of a dump."

He laughed quietly even though I was being serious. "As a matter of fact, I did notice that. Where do you want to go, then?"

"Ugh, I don't know! I don't suppose we had any plans for where to go next that I've forgotten, did we?"

"No, we didn't."

"Well, that's just great," I groaned, biting my lip. For the zillionth time, I wondered what in the world could've brought us to a place like this; _but according to Edward, I'm not supposed to worry about that anymore – which I'm not, so don't get upset! _I thought at him. "Okay, okay, give me a minute to think. I guess… I wanna go home – back to Charlie – is he at home, or did he go somewhere else?"

"As far as I know he should be at home; very well, I'll take you there. Do you feel up to leaving now, or would you like to rest or eat first?"

I thought for a second; I knew I didn't need rest since I still had the lingering feeling of having been asleep for a long while, but eating wasn't at all a bad idea. In fact, the hollow feeling in my stomach told me it had been so long since I'd had any food that I had gotten used to my stomach being empty. "I am hungry, but we can stop somewhere for me to get food, right?" Edward nodded. "Good, then let's get out of here; this place gives me the creeps."

###

Edward and I ran, or rather he ran and carried me, until sunrise; when the sky lightened enough that his skin started to glow faintly in the predawn light, he darted off the highway and under the fragmented shade provided by the trees. "Looks like this is as far as I go, at least for now," he said with a frustrated sigh.

"So we're stuck hanging out by the side of the road all day? That's just marvelous."

"We aren't stuck anywhere, Bella; you are at perfect liberty to leave, if you'd like, although given your tendency to attract all manner of danger, I'd rather you stayed near me."

"Me too, but I don't really like the idea of sitting around here all day. Hey, do you know if this road heads into any towns close to here?"

He thought for less than a minute, then, "I believe so, why?"

"Well, I could head into town and rent a car and come back for you-"

"And how do you think you'd get into town, Bella?"

"Um, I'd walk – duh."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Isabella, the nearest town is almost a mile from this point. Do you have any idea how much trouble someone with your talent for attracting danger could find between here and there? I am not letting you take off on your own; forget it."

"Earth to vampire," I retorted indignantly, "attracting danger isn't the only talent I have; I'll admit it's one of them, but not the only one. If any sleazy truck drivers try to pick me up, I can handle them. You know that, Edward; besides, if you don't let me go alone, then we'll both be sitting on our thumbs here until the sun sets! Now I don't know about you, but I don't find that alternative too appealing."

Edward couldn't come up with a good argument to that, so he reluctantly agreed and forked over the money I'd need for car rental since I didn't seem to have any on me. Despite what he thought about my 'talent for attracting danger', my trek into town passed without incident and I was just congratulating myself on a job well done when, sure enough, I did run into trouble – but from a group of local yahoos who looked like they were in the middle of blowing off school and had nothing more productive to do with themselves than hassle whoever crossed their paths.

Using the only other noteworthy talent – other than the danger-magnet one – I possessed to send them packing worked as well as always, but gave me a pounding headache. _Okay, what's the deal here? _I wondered as I sat on a bench on the edge of the town's small playground. _Since when does pushing people into obeying one little command like that make me feel like my skull's falling apart?! This isn't right… and maybe this has something to do with my memory loss…_

I dropped my head into my hands and dug my fingertips into my temples, racking my brain for any memory, even the scraps of a residual one, from the last… how long? How much time had passed since I went into the bathroom at an airport in France, wishing I didn't have to get on a plane and fly away, leaving Edward and Charlie to hunt down some out-of-control maniac of a vampire in Paris…?

That, at least, was one thing that I hadn't forgotten at all; the vampire-style murders stood out in crystal-clear focus in my mind, much clearer than they should've been for something I'd only heard about on the news, and only after Edward translated what the reporter said for me. For the barest moment I felt like I was on the verge of remembering, or figuring out, something of vital import, but then it slipped away like water running through my fingers. "Damn it!" I muttered. I wasn't even close to having any idea what I was trying so hard to recall, and yet I knew it was crucial that I did.

_Well, that makes it official – I am cracking up. Should've seen it coming. Oh well, there's no point worrying about it now – nothing I can do about it now. So forget it, Bella; just go get a car and go pick up your boyfriend. I'll be fine once I've got Edward with me again – ha, I'll feel __better__ when I'm back with the vampire; no wonder I'm losing it. _

###

Insane or not, I did feel better after Edward joined me in the beat-up Aries K I rented. Of course he scoffed at what a heap it was, but his disdain for the not-even-close-to-up-to-his-standards car vanished when I told him about how getting rid of those boys had left my head throbbing. "Bella, has this ever happened before?" he asked urgently.

"Not that I can remember. Then again, my memory isn't what it used to be." I fell silent for a moment, then admitted, "Edward, I'm scared. I mean, I'm really scared."

He said nothing, but a careful look at his face showed me that there was certainly something on his mind, just something he didn't want to share with me. "Hey, c'mon Edward, don't be like this. Please."

"Don't be like what?" he asked, his face a perfect picture of innocent surprise – too perfect to be real.

"You know what! You keep telling me to forget about whatever I've forgotten – and I know that makes no sense, but you know what I mean – but I can't just ignore the fact that days, maybe even weeks went by and I'm totally clueless about what I was doing that whole time! And you know, but you won't tell me… And I don't like that. Since when do you need to hide things from me? Don't you trust me?"

His silence frightened me more than anything I'd gone through before, because since when did Edward need time to think about whether or not he trusted me? I opened my mouth to say I didn't know what and closed it wordlessly, but then he spoke and saved me the trouble of making another awkward attempt at finding the right way to express what I was feeling.

"I do trust you, Bella; sometimes against my better judgment, but I do. And I'm sorry, I truly am, for whatever has happened to you, to your mind – but I don't know how to fix it, and I honestly don't believe that filling in the memories you've lost would do you any good. In fact, I think you might be better off without them."

I leaned back in my seat and stared out the windshield in front of me for several minutes, turning that over in my mind. Why would I be better off forgetting what I'd been up to for the last few days… unless I'd been up to no good? But what could I possibly have done?

###

Thanks to my aching head, Edward had to drive all day; I could tell that this car, so different from the hot rods he and the other vampires preferred, frustrated him, but he must have been too concerned about me to bother complaining. Still, he didn't completely hide his relief when the sun set and we were able to ditch the car and run again. I usually enjoyed running with Edward, but this time I just pressed my forehead to the cool leather of his jacket and hoped we'd get to Charlie's house soon; I didn't want to look up and see everything rushing past us, because I could easily see myself getting motion sickness if I did, even though I didn't have that problem as a matter of course.

With Edward's speed, it seemed hardly five minutes later when he was sliding me off his back and giving me a gentle push up to Charlie's front door. I knocked, heard the sound of the TV being muted and something – most likely a bowl of popcorn – being set down, and then the door opened to reveal Charlie looking both surprised and pleased to see me.

"Bells! What are you doing here; I thought you were with Renee."

This statement didn't exactly surprise me, but it did tell me more than it was intended to – it told me that Charlie was unaware of whatever had happened that had caused me to miss my flight and retain no memory of doing so; I thought I'd like to keep it that way. "I was with Renee," I lied, hoping Charlie wouldn't talk to her any time soon and find out otherwise, "but I missed you, so when… um, when Edward told me you were back home I thought I'd come see you."

"So Edward's already taken care of his business and headed over to see you? Dang, that vampire's fast," Charlie muttered.

"Yeah, he is," I agreed. I wished I could ask what business Edward had had to take care of, but that might be something I was supposed to know and therefore couldn't ask about without arousing suspicion.

"Well, come in, come in." Charlie stepped back, opening the door wider, and I went in with just a fleeting glance over my shoulder to confirm that Edward had pulled his famous disappearing act, although I couldn't imagine Charlie ignoring him so completely if he'd still been there.

Once I was inside, Charlie offered to dig up something more nutritious than popcorn for me, but I persuaded him that I really wasn't that hungry (which I wasn't) and escaped upstairs to my room relatively quickly. My assertion that I was tired and wanted to lie down wasn't that far from the truth, and I had a feeling that Edward would come back to me when I was alone, that he just wanted to avoid Charlie at the moment.

I'd no sooner shut my bedroom door behind me than the lamp by the bed flicked on; of course Edward was already there, waiting for me. "There you are. Feel like telling me why you took off before Charlie answered the door?"

Edward gave a half-shrug that I took to mean I wouldn't be getting a straight answer. "What happened after you… left… me and Charlie is a rather long and complicated story… but I'll tell you some of it if you'd really like to know."

"I would."

"I thought so; will you walk with me?"

I nodded yes and took the hand he held out to me; it closed tightly around mine, pulling me to him, and we flew across my room and out the second-story window faster than I could blink. Edward landed with catlike grace and silence, set me back on my feet but kept his grip on my hand, and we walked off up the street together.

He didn't speak right away, for which I was almost grateful. Whatever time I had with him like this was wonderful, so much so that after a moment I told him he could keep his long and complicated story to himself if he wanted.

"What, you're letting it go that easily? Is the Inquisition over already?" he asked in a tone that suggested he'd narrowly escaped the kind of interrogation that involved medieval torture, but flashed me his crooked smile to let me know he was teasing.

"Of course I'm still curious – so don't think you're off the hook forever," I warned with mock severity. "I just… don't want to ruin the moment with talking about whatever 'business' Charlie was talking about that you had to take care of. Your 'business' tends to be the kind of thing that's a real mood-killer to talk about."

Edward snickered quietly. "Heaven forbid I kill the mood," he said, pulling me close again and staring down into my eyes, our faces only inches apart. "I suppose, then, that we'll have to do something other than talk after all."

I would have agreed with that, but I didn't get the chance because his mouth covered mine before I could get a single word out.

**To Whoever Probably Isn't Much Concerned (I saw that phrase at the beginning of a letter in one of my books and couldn't stop myself from using it!): I guess you can tell this story's starting to wrap up, although I do have one last surprise – or maybe it's two – in store, but if anyone wants an estimate of how many chapters are left, think of a number between five and two. **


	16. The Gray Area's a Dark Place

**NicoleMarin: good job on winning your softball games (and on not beating up on the really bad team too much), but I'm sorry you got your face bruised up – ouch! This chapter's my congratulations/get well soon present to you and I worked on it all day, so I hope you like it. If not, I guess I'll know I can't write a good chap in one day and… take longer next time! *Laughs evilly* By the way, I'm not one of the 'redneck-hick' types, but I do have (useless, mean and lazy) horses, and I know some people at school who are… and they don't like me… That's okay though, because the voices in my head say they're weird!**

**Everyone Else: cliffhanger warning! Read at your own risk!**

_**Chapter 15: The Gray Area's a Dark Place**_

**POV: Bella**

Edward and I stayed out only a little longer; then he insisted that I needed rest and took me back to my room. I fell asleep quickly (or as quickly as I could when having Edward around made staying awake so much more attractive), and jolted awake I didn't know how much later with a strange feeling; my heart pounded as if I'd had a nightmare, and my abrupt return to consciousness also seemed to go with that theory, but I couldn't remember any scary dreams.

I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated. It wasn't like I usually recalled every dream I had in great detail, which was fine with me, but I felt like there was something important about this one, something I needed to hold onto, to remember… I spent another five minutes trying to bring some shred of my dream back, but the effort yielded nothing except a blurry image of a pair of werewolves, flying fur, and something bright red splashing on me – blood!

The blood was the only part of this picture I could bring into sharper focus; I concentrated harder, feeling an unreasonably strong urge to bring back more of this nightmare, and then a needle of pain stabbed my cerebrum, shattering the image. "Dang it," I muttered. Whatever I'd dreamed about, it was gone now, into the same impenetrable chasm that had recently swallowed a slice of my memory. Then, to add insult to injury, my brain began aching as if it really had been poked with a needle.

"Well, at least my day's off to a rip-roaring start," I said to the empty room as I swung my feet off the bed and stood up – that turned out to be a mistake. No sooner had I got up than the room spun and tilted, my knees buckled, and I fell, ending up flat on my back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and waiting for it to stop spinning.

When it did, I slowly sat up, keeping an eye on the walls to make sure they stayed where they should. Everything seemed to be okay as long as I didn't move too fast. I brushed my teeth and dressed, which took an agonizingly long time as I was stuck moving at a fraction of my normal speed, and at long last made my way downstairs to the kitchen, where I hoped some food might help with the lightheadedness.

However, I forgot all about food when I got close enough to hear who was already in Charlie's kitchen; obviously Edward had changed his mind about not wanting Charlie to know he was in the neighborhood. _Or maybe it wasn't that he wanted to avoid Charlie. Maybe there was something that Edward wanted to tell Charlie, but not in front of me. _Of course that idea was ridiculous; in what rational world would Edward share information with Charlie and keep it from me?

_He would never do that – not in any rational world. But in the rational world, I don't have days-long blackouts… and Edward wouldn't fill in what happened during those days for me… _Even though eavesdropping on Edward and Charlie made me feel like a rat, I padded forward, my footsteps silent on the carpet outside the kitchen's doorway.

As it turned out, eavesdropping was easier than usual. "What the hell are you talking about?!" Charlie exploded, temporarily rendering stealth and effort completely unnecessary to overhear his end of the conversation.

"I just told you," Edward said patiently but with an edge in his voice. "Bella never made it back to her mother-"

"So where was she all that time if she wasn't with Renee?!" Charlie still wasn't using his indoor voice.

The pause between Charlie's question and Edward's answer was barely perceptible, but he definitely hesitated before replying. "I'm not entirely sure."

_He's lying! _my little inner voice shrieked; I slapped an imaginary gag on it, hoping I hadn't alerted Edward to my presence. I waited breathlessly, but he seemed too absorbed in deciding what to tell Charlie to have noticed my errant thought.

"What I do know is that when I found Bella, she had no memory of anything since you and I left her at that airport – and that's not even the most disturbing part-"

"Oh yeah? I gotta say, it sounds pretty damn disturbing to me, Edward."

I could practically see Edward trying to keep his impatience in check. "Charlie, how do you expect me to tell you anything if you insist on interrupting me at the end of every other sentence? Now, as I was saying," he continued without waiting for an answer or apology, "in addition to losing some of her memory, Bella looks ill."

Edward fell silent, giving Charlie an opportunity to comment if he wanted; I didn't hear anything, so I guessed that Charlie's comment was made nonverbally. "Yes, she was beginning to look rather worn when we sent her away, but she looks worse now – or did you not see that last night?" Another brief pause so Edward could read the answer in Charlie's mind, then, "Well, she did go up to bed quite soon after arriving here. Yes, I was here, of course; did you really think I would let Bella out of my sight after this?"

"Guess not," Charlie muttered, sounding as if he couldn't decide whether to be grateful for Edward keeping an eye on me or resent him sneaking in without Charlie's knowledge. "So where exactly did you find Bells anyway? I thought you were going to deal with those werewolf things with your vamp buddies."

"We did go after the pack, but I'm afraid I didn't see the hunt through; you see, the pack was divided and I caught Bella's scent before Emmett, Rosalie, and I had tracked them all down. Once I realized Bella was nearby, I abandoned the search for werewolves and went after her instead."

Edward stopped speaking just in time to not be cut off by Charlie's outburst. "You mean Bella ended up wandering around close to where that pack of mutts that kidnapped her was camped out?! That big one that has a serious beef with you hadn't snatched her again, had he?!"

"Charlie, calm down! Jacob Black was nowhere near Bella, and I'm certain he did not take her there by force." Those words sent a weird little shiver through me; again, I had the feeling that Edward wasn't telling the whole story – he wasn't lying outright, but he was doing a hell of a lot of editing.

Charlie took a deep breath. "That's good. So tell me, what did happen with the pack? Did your friends ever catch that Black character?"

"I haven't heard yet. I could call Emmett to ask if you'd like; I would have to call him sooner rather than later regardless. He and Rosalie are probably upset with me for running off and leaving them to fight the pack on their own… or they're glad I left so they were able to fight more of the wolves themselves."

"You do that. I'll feel better when I know how many of those wolves your pals managed to take off the streets."

"As will I, but you should know that if I get in touch with them, they might well demand that I rejoin them. I don't mind if they do except that I'll have to leave Bella… Is there anything I can do for you while I'm here?"

"No, just don't take off without saying goodbye to Bells, all right? She'd be upset if you did, and that sounds like the last thing she needs."

"Of course I don't intend to leave without saying goodbye to her," Edward said indignantly. "Whenever I do leave, you- you will look after her, won't you? I know you would anyway, but something tells me she's in some sort of trouble, Charlie. She looks like a reanimated corpse, almost an entire week has vanished from her memory, and… and I just can't get rid of the feeling that something is very, very wrong with her."

I didn't stick around to hear Charlie promise to look after me; I'd heard enough. So the werewolves were back, Edward had been fighting them, he thought there was something 'very wrong with me', and he planned to contact his vampire friends, who would probably come down here and drag his butt back to… wherever. This was nothing I couldn't deal with, but I couldn't deal with it and play normal for Edward and Charlie's benefit at the same time. I needed to get away from them both.

***

I left Charlie's house and wandered down the street with no clear idea of where I was going; fortunately, once my brain disengaged my empty stomach took over, and I ended up at a sandwich shop I used to frequent when I lived here full-time. "Hey there, Bella! Seems like it's been years since I saw you in here, honey," my old regular waitress greeted me.

"Yeah, it's been too long – a whole other lifetime ago," I agreed.

She gave me a politely puzzled frown. "Well, I wouldn't say it's been quite that long, Bells."

_Not for you, maybe. _I smiled, ordered my favorite ham and cheese sandwich with a salad, and retreated to a table in the corner where a window afforded me an excellent view of the street outside. At least the day was too sunny for Edward to follow me after he and Charlie realized I'd left the house. Okay, so taking off on my own might not have the smartest move considering that the last time I'd left Charlie and Edward I'd apparently blacked out for who knows how long – no, wait, according to what Edward told Charlie it was almost a week – but seriously, this was one of the most familiar, safest places I knew. What was the worst that could happen?

I ate my breakfast, or maybe it was lunch by now, in silence, lost in the confusing spiral of my thoughts. What I'd overheard Edward telling Charlie replayed in my head over and over like a broken record, and every time I felt like there was some vital information I was supposed to get out of it, and yet any deeper meaning eluded me. It was mostly the mention of the pack, and especially Jacob, that halfway rang a bell… something about Jacob… but what? Might I have run into him during the week I'd lost? _If I did, I'd pay big bucks to know how I could forget it… _Even now, the memory of the huge pack leader – both the human who'd coldly let me in on his plan to use me as bait for Edward as well as the russet-furred wolf who had fought my vampire and might even have won if I hadn't shot him in the leg – chilled me.

_No, _I decided, _there's no way, __no possible way__, that I could not remember seeing __him__. _Convincing myself of that wasn't difficult at all… but that last memory of Jacob and Edward's fight wouldn't leave the back of my mind. _If I hadn't shot him… _As my feet carried me aimlessly down the sidewalk, the image of pointing Charlie's gun at the enormous wolf seemed printed behind my eyeballs. For an instant the picture changed, making it look like he was human and I wasn't shooting him; I was holding the gun, which wasn't Charlie's but a different one, out for him to take…

But that had never happened! Or had it? It occurred to me that this could be a missing memory surfacing, and I tried to hold onto it, but it was already slipping away like water through my fingers. I sat down on a bench, only then noticing that I had ended up at the park, and dropped my head into my hands, digging my fingertips into my forehead as if this would help dig up something in my head.

I stayed there longer than I should have, all afternoon, until the sun had sunk behind the treetops and everyone else had packed it up and headed home for the night – and I still wasn't much closer to tracking down those memories. "Crap," I growled, angry at being stymied by my own brain; it just wasn't fair when your mind started working against you.

"Well, there's no point sitting and stewing about it," I said aloud; it wasn't like there was anyone around to hear me talking to myself. "Besides, Charlie and Edward are probably worried about me – or at least Charlie is. I'm sure Edward is too, unless he's already left to meet up with his cold companions." Still, hadn't he promised he wouldn't do that without saying goodbye to me? However weird things were between us lately, there was no way he'd just run out on me like that… right?

I sighed, depressed now; I didn't like not knowing how things stood with me and Edward. On top of that, I felt faintly guilty for avoiding him and Charlie all day just because I'd eavesdropped on an unsettling conversation. _Come to think of it, that's probably the reason Edward waited until I wasn't in the room before having that talk with Charlie - because he knew it would unsettle me, _I told myself, and immediately felt even more foolish.

Guilt had thoroughly gotten the better of me, so I pulled out my cell phone, which I had remembered to take with me but kept off all day, and flipped through the menu to Charlie's number – biting my lip at the number of missed calls I'd gotten today. I had a good idea who most of them were from. "Hi, Dad, it's me," I said when someone answered the phone, only to have my heart try to jump out of my chest at the furious voice on the other end, which definitely did not belong to Charlie.

"Oh… um, hey, Edward. So Emmett and Rosalie haven't made it down here to haul you over the coals for ditching them, huh?" I joked lamely.

He ignored my pathetic attempt at dodging the bullet. "Isabella Marie Swan, have you any idea how worried your father and I have been since we found you gone this morning?!" Edward half-shouted in my ear. "Do you know why I picked up Charlie's phone right now? Because he's spent the day out looking for you! I would have done that myself if it weren't for the sunlight-"

"Look, I'm sorry!" I burst out, unable to take his anger. "I just… I know it was stupid, but I overheard you telling Charlie about the werewolves coming back and you finding me somewhere close to where they were, and it bothered me that you were telling him about that but hadn't told me, and I just… just needed to be alone for a while."

Edward's deep breath crackled over the phone like static as he reined in his temper – something I knew from experience wasn't easy for him. "All right," he said in a tone of forced calm, "all right. Just tell me where you are now so I can pick you up, please."

I told him, trusting that he wouldn't have a problem finding the park as it was the only one in town, and hung up, sitting back down to wait. Not two minutes later, I heard the soft rustle of someone approaching through the grass and fallen leaves carpeting the ground. "Wow, that was fast even for you," I told the empty air in front of me, knowing he'd hear me perfectly even if my voice was aimed away from him.

He didn't answer, and I was about to turn around when a hand that was much too warm to belong to a vampire clamped around the back of my neck and propelled me to my feet in a particularly painful way. "This isn't your bloodsucker, bitch; but don't worry, he'll be here soon enough. That was him you just called, right?"

"Y- Yes," I squeaked. "He-"

"Shut up! I dunno if anyone's ever told you this, Swan, but you girls talk too much." With that, something fist-like slammed the back of my head. White lights popped in front of my eyes – then they, and everything else, blinked out, leaving only darkness.

**A/N: So, who thinks they can guess which werewolf that was?! I'll give cookies to anyone who gets it right!**


	17. Burn Out, Not Fade Away

**This chapter is dedicated to all my readers who love protracted fight scenes and want a big semi-finish for this story – I say semi because this isn't the last chapter, or even the next to last. It's just a big, dramatic (I hope) fight; so big, in fact, that I couldn't fit it all into one chap, so this is part one of the big smackdown. The good news is that part two shouldn't take me long to write now, and I'll make it my #1 priority before working on my other story, so you should have it in the next couple of days. The bad news is that part one has a HECK of a cliffie, so you may want to wait that extra couple of days if you're prone to nail-biting… **

_**Chapter 16: Burn Out, Not Fade Away**_

**POV: Edward**

_She shouldn't have gone off by herself! Is she __trying__ to get herself hurt? Has she completely lost her mind? _Furious thoughts in this vein kept up a sort of running commentary in the back of my mind as I ran to the park where Bella had said I would find her, though I knew it was irrational to be angry with her. She was justified in wanting time to herself after what she'd overheard between Charlie and myself, after all; besides, my self-aware side knew that I wasn't even that angry, not really.

I was merely converting emotions I was less comfortable with into anger, which was simpler. The truth was that I worried about Bella, was even afraid for her. Certainly it hadn't escaped my attention that the last time Bella had been alone too long, she had taken on an entirely different personality; still, I was reasonably confident that that phenomenon hadn't repeated itself today.

Bella sounded like herself when she called, which she would not have if she had experienced another turnaround. _So you see, there's really nothing to be upset over, _I told myself, trying to make the words sound true inside my head. Having just got Bella back, I didn't want to spoil it by getting into an argument the minute I reached her; judging by how wan and wasted she looked now, I wasn't even sure she could take an argument.

###

Following Bella's scent to the park was easy, at least until I neared the source; there her smell got stronger, as if she'd been sitting in the same place for hours, but then mingled with another scent, one so overpoweringly vile that it all but covered hers. I froze. Seconds ago I'd been sure Bella was still her usual self, but not now. How could I be sure of that when I found a werewolf's scent in the same place… the same place she'd told me to come?

_It doesn't have to mean she's… Werewolves have kidnapped her before – it could have happened again. I can't leave without her… but I'll be damned – again – if I'm going to walk into the same trap twice. _I tracked the wet-dog stench through the park, careful to stay downwind so the wolf couldn't smell me before I was on top of him.

Interestingly enough, the wolf had kept to a winding hiker's path – hardly normal for such a naturally wild species. The fact that he had barely gone five miles from where he'd intercepted Bella was also unusual, or perhaps it simply meant he didn't want his trail to grow cold before I had time to trace him. _So the dog is trying to set a trap for me! I wouldn't have expected anything else; the question is, is Bella helping him? Is she even with him? _With werewolf musk so strong in my nose, I could smell nothing else.

Not wanting to be seen until I was able to ascertain who exactly was waiting for me, I climbed the nearest tree, hoping the as yet unidentified wolf wouldn't be anticipating this approach. Sure enough, his snout was pointed back at the trail; he shifted his weight impatiently from his left paws to his right, growling quietly. _How long can it take that damn bloodsucker to get here? I thought he was supposed to be fast. Well, if he doesn't show, at least I'll still be able to kill the bitch – not bad, as consolation prizes go. _He glanced over his shoulder, and I followed his gaze to find Bella lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, unconscious.

Conflicting emotions collided in my mind: relief that she clearly wasn't in league with him and anger that he'd hurt her, or at least frightened her badly enough to make her faint. Air hissed between my teeth as I drew in a sharp breath; the wolf's large, triangular head whipped around, searching for the sound's source – to use the common phrase, the game was up. Knowing I'd already been made, I waited until the wolf was looking at a point roughly six feet to my right and then executed a perfectly calculated leap that took me from the tree to his back.

I hit at an angle, the impact throwing my opponent off balance; perhaps I hit him harder than I should have, because he was knocked right off his paws and rolled over. I'd meant to stay where I was, out of reach of his teeth and claws, but letting him roll on top of me, letting his fur cover my face and get in my nose, was just not worth it. Releasing my grip on the shaggy fur, I jumped away from the huge wolf and landed at the exact instant that his momentum brought him back to his feet.

"What did you do to Bella?" I snarled.

_Nothing close to what the bitch deserves! _His thoughts held a fierce, venomous tint that took me by surprise. _But don't worry – I fully intend to take care of her… after I'm done with you, bloodsucker. Or maybe I should do her first… give you a few seconds of what it's like to see the one person you love more than anyone else die… _He dropped to a crouch and slunk between me and Bella, never taking his eyes off me but still leaving room to question who he meant to spring at.

Knowing him as well as I did, it seemed plain to me that he was only trying to distract me, perhaps make me nervous enough to make a mistake; every nerve screamed at me to drop the pretense that it was working and attack, which I would have if not for the fact that he was so close to Bella, close enough that he could be on her before I could stop him. I would be able to pull him away in a second, of course, but that second would be all he needed to deal her a fatal blow. _If I could only get him just a bit farther from her – or if she would wake up, she could move back if he tried to jump her… Wake up, Bella! _

As if she'd heard me, Bella stirred faintly and her eyes fluttered open, then popped wide as she processed the scene unfolding less than two yards from her. The wolf, hearing her gasp, turned its black eyes on her; she wrenched herself into a sitting position too fast and scrambled backward, crab-like. "Jacob Black!" she cried, seeming, at least in my opinion, unreasonably surprised to see him here.

He grinned, an expression that looked out of place on his inhuman face, and stalked toward her, phasing back to human form as he went. "Yeah, not expecting to see me again, were you, you backstabbing little bitch?" Black continued advancing on her but kept to a human pace; Bella got quickly to her feet and backed away at almost exactly the same pace, so the distance between them remained the same.

I, of course, had no intention of letting them get so far from me that I wouldn't be able to stop Black when he finally attacked her – I crept around to his side while his attention was only on Bella, trying to position myself so that I could get between them if needed. In the meantime, though, I also paid close attention to what Black was saying, curious to know what had caused him to hate Bella so much that he would actually go for her with me standing right here.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Bella cried, shaking her head frantically, the way one did when they were either emphasizing denial or trying to shake an unwanted idea out of their head.

"Don't lie, bitch!" Black shouted at her, making her flinch. "You tried to kill me, and you damn well know it! You didn't even have a good reason… you're a monster, even more than your boyfriend!"

"No! I d- didn't mean to kill you, and I only shot at you because-" But he didn't let her finish. For once moving faster than me, Black crossed the space between himself and Bella in what looked like a single stride until he stood over her, but still he made no move to attack. She moved away too fast, tangling her feet together and falling in a heap.

"I'm not talking about then! I'm talking about the time less than five days ago when you made me shoot myself with that Jedi mind-trick bullshit of yours!"

"But I don't remember anything like that!" Bella sounded panicked now, her eyes dilated even in the darkening twilight, breath coming in short, panting gasps; then, in a gesture even another human would have found strange, she raised her hand and used its heel to hit herself on the forehead, hard. "No… I couldn't have…"

"That's enough." Black's voice had become a low, deadly hiss; realizing what this meant – that the conversation was over and now he was going to finish what he came for – I crouched and sprang at him at precisely the same instant he launched himself through the air at Bella, shifting to wolf form again in midair. We collided mid-leap, the impact so hard that it shattered his shoulder and even made me dizzy – not the easiest thing to do, that.

I may have been on top of him for a second after we landed – at least, I had the fleeting impression of landing on something furry and smelly – before my own momentum flung me off. Naturally, we both recovered in half a second. _Why are you protecting her? _Black growled inside my head. _She wanted to kill you too, and you still give a damn what happens to her?! What the hell is __wrong__ with you, bloodsucker?! _

"Nothing is wrong with me," I informed him coolly as we circled each other, looking for an opening to attack. "I love her, and I don't believe what you said about her trying to kill you. For one thing, if she'd made you shoot yourself, wouldn't you be dead right now?"

_Maybe if your bitch was a little smarter, I would be, _he retorted. _Lucky for me, she's too stupid to specify __where__ I should've shot myself! A little bullet through the leg never killed anyone, did it? Ha, even a human could've taken that! But your human won't be able to take what I'm gonna do to her after I'm done with you… _

"This is between you and me, Black – leave her out of it!" I snapped. His answer was to swipe at my face; there might be fewer things than one would need all the fingers of one hand to count that were able to tear through vampire skin, but unfortunately a werewolf's claws were one of those things. Worse, he also got my eye, one of the only half-vulnerable parts of a vampire's anatomy; I hissed as my brain registered the strange feeling in my punctured eyeball – what was it called?

_Pain, that's it. Why didn't I know that? Oh, right, I haven't felt physical pain in so long, I almost forgot what it was like… not since… since when? Not since I was… since I was human. _How strange that this fragment of my past life, gone and for the most part forgotten, should pick this of all moments to come back to me – now, when I most needed to forget what it was to be human, forget everything but the killer instinct that belonged only to vampires and our perpetual adversaries.

Black, thinking he'd managed to incapacitate me, however temporarily, pressed his advantage – his head snapped forward and down, jaws open, presumably to tear off whatever part of me he could sink his teeth into. There were not many instances in which a much larger opponent could be considered a good thing – but this just happened to be one of them.

Using Black's move against him was a simple matter of gripping him around his snout and twisting, flipping him onto his back; _how ironic that his head would have been too big for me to get my hands around if he hadn't been considerate enough to open his mouth! _That was probably a rather frivolous thought, especially at this moment; but really, was there anything more appropriate that I should have been thinking as I delivered the killing blow to my worst enemy?

Whether my thoughts suited the occasion or not, I bent and sank my own sharp teeth into Jacob Black's exposed throat, injecting my venom into his veins – not something I would do if my enemy belonged to any other species; I knew, however, that a werewolf could not become a vampire. Our venom was fatal to their kind – I'd also heard that vampire venom was particularly painful to them, but I'd never seen anything to confirm or disprove that and I wasn't sure how much faith to place in Rosalie's word.

Black's eyes bulged as he realized what I'd done; certain that he couldn't have long left with his unnaturally fast metabolism, I got off him and stepped back to let my eye finish repairing itself. I could have kept an eye on Black, but, at the moment, an eye was indeed all I could keep on him, pun intended. Until the one he'd stuck his damn claw into healed, I was half-blind and my depth perception was blown to hell; perhaps that was why I didn't notice that he'd moved until he had all but collapsed on top of me.

_Congratulations, Cullen, _he thought; I could already sense the dim cloudiness gathering at his mind's edges as the poison spread. _You've killed me… but at least I've done… a last bit of damage… maybe enough to… take you with me… _He didn't have much of that prodigious werewolf strength left, nor did he need it, seeing as how I was already down and all he had to do was open his mouth wide enough to close on my throat…

**Like I said, part two of the fight scene chapter should be up very soon, unless of course the ceiling falls down, breaking my computer or knocking me out… or I get murdered by angry readers… But you guys wouldn't do that to me… right?**


	18. Eram Quod Es, Eris Quod Sum

**Well, looky here, two chapters in two days! I'm so proud of myself… plus now you have no excuse to want to kill me!**

_**Chapter 17: Eram Quod Es, Eris Quod Sum **_**(Yes, I do know what this means. Do you?)**

**POV: Emmett ('Cause we haven't seen enough of him)**

My excuse for sticking my head out the window was so I could catch Edward's scent if we crossed paths with him; my real reason was so I had a better chance of tuning out Rose's mutterings about how she would wring Edward's neck when we caught up with him. Not that I blamed her for being pissed – he'd ditched us in the middle of a fight with the whole damn pack, after all – but after three stinkin' hours, even I got tired of her ranting. Rose was a great (and super-hot) girl, but she had her flaws; the rants were number one on that list.

Still, just because I was mostly trying to lose Rose's high-pitched angry voice in the wind, didn't mean I wasn't paying attention to what blew past my nose. "Hey, Rose," I said, cutting off whatever plan for smacking Edward silly she was outlining, "hang a left at this next intersection."

"And just why should I 'hang a left' at the next intersection?" That's right, she said 'hang a left' with vocal quotation marks.

"Because I just caught a whiff of Edward, that's why," I said patiently. "It'll be hard for you to wring his neck or chew out his eyeballs or whatever you've decided to do to him if he's not here."

Rose huffed indignantly but obeyed my directions; I just grinned, knowing that her indignation wasn't really for me. Mostly she was upset that Edward, who seemed to hate the wolves more than the rest of us put together, except maybe Jasper, had bailed and left the two of us to take care of twelve werewolves; she was also upset that her car had been totaled, and the replacement wasn't exactly her style. It wasn't quite a heap – she probably would've refused to get in if it was – but it was no flashy convertible either.

We followed the road till we hit the end, which turned out to be… the entrance to a park. "What?!" Rose shrieked, clenching her fists. "He dumped us to take a stroll in the park?!"

I reached out to pat her shoulder – instinct had taught me to calm her down when she got this mad, hopefully before she smashed anything metal or animal. "Maybe not," I said soothingly. "I'm sure Edward has a perfectly good reason for being here." I was sure he did, too; Edward never did anything without having a good reason (except for falling for that human – she seemed like a nice enough girl in the two times I'd met her, but she left something to be desired in the looks department), but I was no closer to guessing his reason for being here, of all places, than I was to the moon.

"Whatever, let's just go find him already; the faster we find him, the faster I can kill him." Rose took off, weaving through the trees and reaching up as she ran to twist her hair into a knot so the leaves wouldn't get caught in it; normally I would've outstripped her in about ten seconds, but not tonight. _Damn, Edward must've really pissed her off this time. I hope he's in fight mode when we find him, or he'll get his head ripped off! _

Suddenly, Rose screeched to a halt; I barely avoided plowing into her back. "Emmett, are you smelling this? That is werewolf, isn't it?"

"Sure it is. There's nothing in the world that stinks quite like a werewolf."

"Can you tell which one it is?"

"Nope, they all smell the same to me – like shit."

Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Well, you were right; Edward did have a good reason for being here. Let's go." She took off again, and I was right behind her; sure, Edward had probably already taken the dog out, but there was always a chance he hadn't. Either way, I wasn't about to pass up any possible action.

###

We arrived on the scene just in time to see Edward flip the damn alpha dog onto his back and bite into his throat. "Holy crap," I murmured, "he did it. He nailed the bastard!"

"So he did," Rose agreed happily. "Okay, maybe I won't kill him after all… wait, what the hell is he doing?!" I looked from her back to Edward – who, for reasons best known to himself, had backed away from the downed werewolf, who was definitely dying but not dead yet.

By tacit agreement, Rose and I ran toward them just in case Black decided he wanted to go out with a bang, but for once we weren't fast enough. Black lurched to his feet – well, paws, but whatever – and lunged – but not at Edward. Instead, he aimed a well-placed kick at Bella Swan, bringing her to my attention for the first time and sending her flying. He didn't stand there and watch to see that his kick had knocked her into a tree; her head cracked against the thick trunk, her eyes rolled back in her skull, exposing the creepy-looking whites for the second before her eyelids closed and her limp body folded.

Instead, after knocking the girl out, Black's focus shifted back to Edward. Werewolves' metabolism was so fast that Edward's venom had already worked its burning way through most of Black's huge body, but he still had some energy left; not enough to really pounce, but enough to stagger over to where Edward stood, motionless and obviously not quite taking in what was happening, and fall on him. Black's mouth opened like he meant to literally bite Edward's head off, but he never got the chance.

I didn't remember deciding to move (didn't exactly remember moving either) but there I was, grabbing the wolf by the scruff of his neck and tossing him off my friend before reaching down to grab the front of Edward's shirt and pull him to his feet. This close, it was easy to see why Edward hadn't noticed his girlfriend's little trip through the air or a werewolf coming at him till it was really on top of him: sometime before Rose and I got here, Black had swiped Edward's face good. The scratch marks were faint but still visible and that wasn't the worst of it – the wolf had also gotten an eyeball.

I waited until the ruptured sclera had resealed itself before asking, "Hey, buddy, you all right?"

Edward blinked hard and wiped away the venomous vitreous humor that had spilled down his cheek, then answered, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you. Emmett, where is-?"

The end of his question was drowned out by an agonized howling that erupted just as a bright red glow lit up behind us, turning the landscape orange and black with borrowed light and flickering shadows. We both had a pretty good idea of the source, but we turned around to see it anyway – predictably, Rose had set the already-dying alpha wolf on fire.

"He's caused us so much trouble, I figured he deserved to go out with a bang," she explained, sounding extremely satisfied as she sauntered away from the flaming werewolf, freeing her hair from its improvised bun as she went. "I guess it's a good thing the human's unconscious – we don't have any marshmallows for her anyway."

"What? What do you mean, Bella's unconscious?!" Edward demanded. "She fainted?"

"Yeah, she fainted… after your furry friend slammed her into a tree trunk, she did," Rose replied carelessly, flicking a stray bit of singed fur off her sleeve.

"What?!" Edward moved so fast that even some sharp-eyed vamps would've had trouble keeping track of him, something I could do but didn't bother with because I knew where he'd end up: kneeling beside the crumpled form that was, or maybe that had been, Bella Swan. "Bella?! Bella, no, please wake up, please!"

**POV: Rosalie**

Watching Edward try to revive the totally unresponsive human, I felt something that was pretty strange for me: guilt, uncommon for me but still familiar enough to be easily recognizable and, in this case at least, most likely uncalled for. After all, it wasn't like it was my fault the human was damaged. Okay, maybe I could've been a little more sensitive in pointing it out, but it wasn't like I'd been the one to bash her head on that stupid tree.

Still, I felt compelled to do something to make up for it. I approached slowly, cautiously; Edward and I were usually friendly enough, but we also usually annoyed the hell out of each other, and I wasn't at all sure he wouldn't snap at me if I intruded on a moment like this. To my relief, he didn't – I was no slowpoke, but Edward's reputation as the fastest of the vamps was well-earned; he could probably get his teeth into my arm if he really wanted to.

I crouched across from him on the human's other side and touched a finger to the underside of her jaw; her pulse was there, although slower and somehow thicker than it should be. "She's still alive, at least," I said, wanting to offer some kind of comfort.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Rosalie – you have a real gift for that." Edward and I spoke sarcastically to one another so often that it was pure instinct, but the line fell flat because he didn't or couldn't put the usual acid into his voice. "She needs to go to a hospital, but I don't know if I should move her… her spine…"

"Here, I'll check her spine." I slid my hand under her neck to feel for broken bones; none jumped out at me, but I quickly got distracted by the wet, warm stickiness seeping through her hair – blood! I hadn't hunted in over a week… needing a distraction from my thirst, I shoved it to the back of my mind before Edward could sense it and freak out and told him, "Never mind the spine. She's got a bad cut on her head somewhere."

It was just my luck to find the injury before he did, only it turned out to be not so much a cut in her scalp as a spider web of cracks stretching across the back of her skull and giving the back of her head a disgusting texture that would have been like a sponge soaked in thick, sticky paint if not for the chips of fractured bone adding a certain gristliness. _YUCK!! _

"What is it?" The words somehow ground out of Edward's throat, like he was spitting up shards of glass, like he wasn't sure how much bad news he could take.

"Um, well, I don't think Bella's spine is what you need to worry about… I also don't know how much a hospital can do for her now…"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm… I'm sorry-"

"What?! Tell me!" he ordered, but I showed him instead. Placing my hand over his, I guided his fingers to what had been the back of her head until it had been shattered by a tree trunk. "No," he whispered. "No, Bella, no! You cannot leave me this way!"

"So don't let her," I suggested quietly. "Her heart's still beating, at least for now; if you want to save her, you should do it now, while there's still time."

"You mean I should – what, turn her?"

"That's exactly what I mean. I've told you that's what you should do with her before, but you wouldn't listen to me." I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying 'and it would have saved you a hell of a lot of trouble if you had'; he wasn't in the mood for my admonitions, and I wasn't so cruel that I'd make him listen to them at a time like this. "You remember what your argument against it was then, don't you?"

"Of course; I said I didn't want to take away her chance for a normal life."

"Right. Well, that problem's off the plate now – soon she's not going to have any kind of life, at least not as a human. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth; the back of her head's smashed in, Edward. She can't live, not like that. Even if we were at a world-class hospital right now with ten freaking brain surgeons, there's not a damn thing they could do for her. There's nothing anyone can do for her now, except you."

As if to underline that assertion, Bella's heartbeat faltered, stuttered, then steadied again, but slower and fainter then before. Edward shut his eyes as if to block out what was happening; when he opened them, I didn't need to be a mind reader like him to read the desperate indecision there. "What if she doesn't want to be a vampire?" he whispered. "I've never asked her if she'd prefer that to dying… what if she wouldn't want me to save her this way? What if she'd hate me for it?"

"At least she'd be alive to hate you," I pointed out. "Come on, Edward; if you don't bite her in the next minute, it won't matter what she would have wanted or hated or felt about you, because she'll be dead! Maybe becoming a vampire wasn't necessarily the best thing for her last time we talked about it, but it is now. It's the only way to save her. Worrying about what she might think of you for saving her like this is… well, I'd say it's selfish if I was having this conversation with anyone else, but since it's you I know it's just your nature to over-think this stuff."

Edward gave me a grim look. "So tell me what to do, Rosalie."

"I can't do that, you know I can't! Bella's your girlfriend – your responsibility; you're the only one she'd want to decide this for her, if she could choose. If you do bite her, I can stay here and make sure you don't get carried away – although Emmett might be more help than me if you did – but I can't bite her myself. You knew her best, Edward, so you're the one who has to decide whether Bella should die human or live as a vampire. You'd know better than anyone else – what would she want?"

"I wish I'd asked her – why didn't I?"

I didn't answer out loud, but I thought I knew: we immortals had literally all the time in the world, and yet there were a lot of things we never got around to finding out about one another, just because we knew we could always do it later. Of all the differences between us and what we used to be, this was the biggest one; it wasn't about the power, the beauty, or even the warmth vs. the coldness, it was really all about this – the fact that they could bleed, they could die.

They could die so easily – easy as falling onto a log – and their life could slip away through breaks in their skin, cracks in their bones, ruptures in any of their millions of vessels and arteries… but ours couldn't. We had no blood, nothing ran through our veins… nothing ever changed in us, only around us. All we could ever do was sit there, watching.

**This still isn't the last chapter (I mean, it'd kinda suck if it was) but I'm pretty sure there are only two more left. Thanks for sticking with me this long, whoever has, and remember, I'm closing the poll as soon as the last two chapters are up so be sure to vote if you haven't yet.**


	19. The Bitter End

**Sorry this took so long, hope I haven't lost all my readers after taking practically a century to finish this! To anyone who is still reading, this is the last real chapter, but there will be an epilogue even though it says this one's the end, all right?**

**The italicized BPOV parts are what goes on inside Bella's head after she gets knocked out; if they seem nonsensical, just keep the brain damage factor in mind.**

_**Chapter 18: The Bitter End**_

**POV: Bella**

_Jacob's comment about me forcing him to shoot himself had called up the strange image that had come to me during my meandering walk through town earlier… had it really been mere hours ago? It seemed like years had passed since then… Or maybe my sense of time was just screwed; even now, I couldn't tell how long I'd been floating in this dark, lonely place._

_Still, dark and lonely or not, it wasn't a scary place to be – it was the inside of my own mind, so I didn't really mind being stuck here. I sort of wished I knew __why__ I was stuck, though… I tried to work it out, but it was a distracting problem with too many possible solutions; the threads of my consciousness scattered, letting me drift off into oblivion, where I could do and think… nothing at all. _

_If I had any control over the body I couldn't feel, I was sure its mouth was curving into a smile. Nothing really was underrated…_

***

**POV: Alice**

I brought my Porsche to a screeching halt and nearly ripped the door off in my hurry to get out. I normally wouldn't be caught dead treating my gorgeous car like this, but Rose had sounded so tense on the phone that I didn't need to be psychic to see it wouldn't take long for her, or Emmett or Edward, to snap, crackle, and pop if I didn't get to them fast.

Rose was exactly where I'd seen her, restlessly pacing the curb's edge; Emmett sat on the ground watching her, seeming much calmer. No surprise there – nothing ever bothered Emmett for long. "Alice! Thank goodness you're here!" Rosalie slammed into me with all the force of a rock slide and squeezed me so tight that I wondered if I'd missed a serious downturn in the situation since speaking with her.

"It's good to see you too, Rose," I said drily.

She waved off my greeting. "Of course I'm glad to see you, Alice, but mostly I need you to deal with Edward before I crack and rip his head off. He's-"

"Been a complete basket case since you told him the extent of his Bella's injuries, I know," I interrupted impatiently.

Emmett snorted. "Basket case doesn't begin to cover it. Going out of his freakin' mind is closer; much longer with him and he would've pushed me and Rose around the bend too. That's why we're out here, by the way."

I frowned. "What's Edward going out of his mind for? Her heart was still beating when he bit her, and you two stopped him from losing control and draining her – there's no reason for him to worry."

"Tell that to him; maybe he'll be more inclined to listen to you than me." Rose grimaced. "He's all tied up in knots because he can't hear what's going on inside her head so, pessimist that he is, he's got it stuck in his thick head that her skull must've taken such a hard knock that she's in a coma or brain dead. He seems to think there's a chance she won't come out of it even after the venom runs its course."

"Which we told him isn't possible," Emmett threw in, "only he doesn't believe us; well, that or he thinks we don't know what we're talking about. That's why Rose called you, because he won't leave her long enough to take a damn phone call and someone has to say something to snap him out of it!"

"And you're sure he'll take my word for it, are you?" My eyebrows arched skeptically.

Rosalie rolled her butterscotch-golden eyes. "Alice, everyone takes your word on future stuff. Now will you just get yourself in there and pull Edward out of whatever hole he's dug his sorry self into?"

"Fine. Incidentally, since I can only see your decisions and not the reasons behind them, why did you choose to wait out Bella's transformation here of all places?" Cheap no-tell motels like the one we were currently entering were more in keeping with the pack's lifestyle than ours.

"Convenience – we had to get her inside, and no one asks questions in these fine establishments." Rosalie's sarcastic tone and wrinkled nose made it abundantly clear that 'fine' was actually the last adjective she would apply to this particular establishment.

***

True to Emmett's report, Edward really wouldn't leave his human for so much as a nanosecond; in fact, he only looked up to give me the briefest possible greeting before turning his eyes back to her as if staring at her would make her rejoin the land of the living faster. "You could hear her heartbeat from halfway down the block, you know," I said lightly. "It's not necessary for you to hover over her every moment of the next day-and-a-half."

When he gave no sign of having heard me, I sat across from him on the bed with Bella between us and leaned over to squeeze his shoulder. He flinched slightly, startled by the contact; I sighed – he really had been out of it since his girlfriend's little accident. Still, at least I had his attention. "Hey, you got your venom into her in plenty of time – she'll turn, no problem."

"That's not what worries me, Alice," he replied in a low, strained voice. "I know she'll become one of us, but what will she be like? I'm not getting anything from her mind, and… if I can't tell what's going on in there, how can I be sure she won't come out… wrong?"

Emmett snorted. "You're making a mountain out of a molehill, Edward. She had a lot of brain damage, so maybe it's just taking a while for her brain to get fixed. That doesn't mean she won't be herself when she wakes up – seriously, what else could she be?"

Edward barked out a short, humorless laugh. "What's so funny?" Rose demanded.

"What Emmett said, though it isn't amusing so much as ironic. I haven't told you how Bella came to be in the same area as the pack; I might as well tell you now but I'm warning you, you won't like it one bit…"

***

**POV: Bella**

_What was happening to me? I still drifted in the same dark place, but nothingness wasn't vague and hazy like it should be. I didn't know how long I'd been here before I somehow got some clarity back, but now I knew that I was no longer drifting – I was trapped in here, inside my own mind. My head had literally become my prison._

_Panicking was my first instinct; if I was unconscious, which I must be, then how could I still be here? How could I have the feeling of being awake and aware and yet be unable to find my way out of whatever part of the back of my mind I'd gotten shoved into and back into my body?!_

_Again, my flawed sense of time – or maybe time simply didn't exist here – made this blind panic seem to last forever, just as oblivion had seemed infinite. But it passed eventually. My mind (but how could I have one here if the 'here' I was trapped in __was__ my mind?) sharpened and kept on sharpening with each passing second (assuming seconds were indeed passing), and finally I began to understand._

_I was trapped inside my mind because it was somehow broken; the only way to get out was to repair the damage and to do that, I had to find it inside myself and trace it back to its source. I had no idea what might be a source of brain damage in me, but the gap in my memory and those vague images of the pack I'd imagined (or maybe not imagined but forgotten) was probably a good starting point._

***

**POV: Rosalie**

"She did what now?!" I shrieked, my voice rising so much that everyone else in the room clapped their hands over their ears – well, everyone except Bella Swan, though that came as no surprise. If she was so far gone that she could just lie there while Edward's venom made its searing way through her veins, I didn't really expect my screaming to wake her up.

It was for the best if she didn't anyway, because with newborn strength she might be able to get in the way of me pummeling her boyfriend – and he clearly needed to be pummeled until some sense was knocked into him, if such a thing was possible. "Let me just make sure I have this straight; that girl-" I stabbed a finger at Swan's inert form "-nearly made dog chow out of you, is obviously not mentally stable, and now thanks to you she's going to become a mentally unstable vampire? Have you taken complete leave of what little sense you had?!"

The idiot just shrugged. "I don't think so, and you don't know what Bella's mental condition will be-"

"Neither do you!" I burst out. "There's a fifty-fifty chance of her waking up a practically unstoppable psycho-bitch, and you didn't even stop to think about that before biting her, did you? Are you suicidal, or crazier than her… or has she just made you so blind to everything else that you have no common sense left?"

"Rose," Emmett said quietly. I ignored him.

"Even if you don't care what she might do to you, you could at least have thought of the rest of us! If she-"

"Rosalie! That's enough," Alice said, more forcefully than Emmett. I bit my tongue to hold the rest of my tirade behind my teeth, and she went on, "You're right about Edward not thinking straight when it comes to that girl, but everyone's like that when they're in love. The person he loves happens to have more issues than normal; that doesn't mean he's wrong to love her, or to change her when it was that or watch her die. You would have done the same in his place, Rose."

Alice had me there, because she was right; if it had been Emmett about to die in front of me, I couldn't honestly say I would have shown any better judgment than Edward had. _It's still not the same, _I silently scolded him. _Emmett isn't crazy. If you've pulled a Frankenstein on us and created a monster, then so help me…_

Edward winced, not because my threat had disturbed or hurt him, but because he was finally beginning to see what I'd known ever since hearing his twisted tale – that depending on what kind of mood Bella was in when she came to, we just might be in very deep shit.

"Alice, is it close enough to ending for you to see what she will be like?"

She closed her eyes, her face settling into its 'deep concentration' expression, and then she shook her head. "I can see what she'll look like – she's going to be stunning – but not what her personality will be."

"Why can't you see that?" Emmett asked, sounding disgruntled.

"I can only see the course of someone's future after it's been decided, and hers hasn't." Alice sighed in frustration, rubbing her temples. "In other words, I won't know till she does."

***

**POV: Emmett**

36 Hours and 28 Minutes Later

Damn, this was getting boring. The day was cloudy enough that I could've gone outside, except that Alice had seen Bella waking up soon and told me to stick around in case Rose and Edward needed help keeping Bella from knocking down the building; so here I was, waiting to see if Bella really would wake up as a vampire or stay a vegetable. _Her body definitely looks vampirized, so if she doesn't regain consciousness, what does that make her – a vegetable-vamp? Or is it…?_

I never got to finish coming up with other words for a brain dead vampire; it wasn't necessary anyway, because Bella woke up with a vengeance, jumping up from her bed and leaping across the room in the same motion. Her blank red eyes scanned the room, and I knew newborns well enough to guess what was going through her mind – something along the lines of 'need blood, can't find any here, have to get out'.

Too bad Edward hadn't been around a newborn before; then he might've known talking to her probably wouldn't do much good. Sure enough, she wasn't together enough to pay attention to whatever he said; instead, she just smelled him as another predator and crouched, pulling her lips back from her teeth and snarling.

I could've stood there and let Edward learn a hard lesson about the consequences of creating a new vampire, and maybe under different circumstances I would've, but… It hadn't been that long since the man had singlehandedly gotten rid of Jacob Black – who'd been a real pain in the ass – and lost and had to repair an eyeball in the process, not to mention how hard biting Bella had been. All things considered, he really didn't deserve to get worked over twice in one week.

Rose would disagree with me about that later – she still thought vamping a crazy girl marked a new high in stupidity – but I still grabbed the back of Edward's jacket and yanked him back to minimum safe distance from Bella. Then everything happened fast even by vampire standards: Alice opened the door, Bella caught a burst of outside air in the face, and we all hurried out of her way as she charged out in search of food.

"We need to go after her, stop her from attacking anyone!" Alice nodded agreement, so I let go of Edward, letting him run after his girlfriend.

"It wouldn't hurt for us to go as well," Alice mused. "There are plenty of forests in Washington; we could chase her into one, make certain that animal blood is the only kind she ever tastes…"

"And we care about that why, again? Personally, I think keeping her around might be more trouble than it's worth; we could just let her run off… What does it matter?"

Alice gave her a clock-stopping glower. "What happens to her matters to Edward, and after what he did believe me, what matters to him matters, understand?"

Rosalie sighed resignedly. "Fine, then – c'mon, let's go round up the psycho… and hope she doesn't make us rip each other's heads off," she added under her breath.

**POV: Bella**

I sat on the leafy, pine needle-y ground, turned my back to the bloodless deer carcasses, and waited for Edward – I knew he would come. He had to come, because once the scorching, searing burn in my throat relented enough for me to truly realize what I was doing, it hadn't taken more than a second to put together what had happened. If I was drinking deer's blood (which I was, no doubt about it), I was obviously a vampire now.

The only one who could and would have done this was Edward, though I couldn't begin to fathom what his reason might have been. He owed me an explanation; even if he didn't, I couldn't see him just leaving me. So I sat there, eyes closed, waiting.

It wasn't a long wait. Barely a minute had passed before I caught his scent on the breeze, much better than I remembered it, and heard his soft voice call my name. I opened my eyes to find him standing beside a huge oak some little distance from me, watching me apprehensively. I smiled and motioned for him to come closer, which he did, but slowly – trying not to alarm me, I guessed.

When he stood right in front of me, I tilted my head back to look up at him and asked, "Why, Edward? Why change me?"

"I had no choice, Bella – you were dying!" He quickly explained about how Jacob had slammed my head against a tree, fracturing my skull so extensively that nothing but vampire venom could have repaired the damage. I nodded, understanding and letting him hear that in my thoughts. "Thank you… but I need to know, Bella, are you-?"

"-Angry at you for turning me without ever asking if I'd prefer that to dying human?" I finished for him. "No, I'm really not. If you had asked me, my answer would've been that I wasn't ready to die… I would have wanted to be like you so I could stay with you forever."

He smiled, relief transparent on his flawless face. "Yes, I want that as well. We will be together forever," he promised, holding out his hand to help me up.

I took it, let him pull me to my feet, and then raised his hand to my lips. "No, we won't be," I whispered, feeling my cool breath blow over his fingers. Startled, he pulled back, and I released my grip.

"What are you talking about, Bella?"

I sucked in a deep breath, and finally said the things I'd known I would have to say sooner or later ever since I had forced myself out of the inner recesses of my mind and back into the real world. "I'm talking about what happened to me, Edward – the things I couldn't remember before, trying to manipulate Jacob Black into killing you and then trying to kill him, all of it."

"How did you get those memories back? I had hoped maybe you never would, I-"

"-Told me I'd be better off not remembering, I know. And you were right, because after getting them back and figuring out why I even did that stuff, I know… I know that I have to leave you, and I don't want to go! I don't want to, Edward; I want to stay with you, and it's killing me that I can't!"

"Then don't! Stay with me, Bella – I don't care what you've done, I love you anyway! I always will."

I was crying now, inasmuch as a vampire could cry since our tear ducts didn't work. "You told me that already, only I wasn't exactly me then," I reminded him in a trembling voice. "But it's not about you, it's about me. You see, my misadventures with the pack weren't when I turned into a completely different person, or at least not the beginning of it. Edward, I first started changing into someone I'm not when I met you."

He inhaled sharply as if I'd sucker-punched him, and I sensed that he was about to argue. Sure that my resolve wouldn't hold if he did, I rushed through the rest of my explanation. "The things you do, the way you live – that's not me. Never has been and probably never will be, no matter what I change into." I waved a hand to indicate my pale, gorgeous body and the thick, shiny hair that cascaded to my waist, a bit longer than it had been.

"While I was unconscious, something happened… I don't know if your venom healed my mind and body both or what, but however I came by it, I finally cleared my head and realized that I literally made myself crazy trying to fit into your lifestyle when it was never right for me. Don't you see? I tried to be something I wasn't and somewhere along the way, I- I think I lost a part of myself, too big a part… I'm not making any sense, am I?"

We both laughed, but it was forced, unnatural and unpleasant, and we stopped quickly. "You're making sense enough." His quiet voice seemed loud in the uncomfortable silence. "At least, I understand what you are trying to say although the delivery was perhaps a bit mangled. Having realized that my life is not for you, you need to leave, correct?" At my nod, he continued, "Then of course you should go; you should do whatever is best for you."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, cut deeper by his stiff, reserved manner than I would have been if he'd broken down and begged me to stay. "It's just that so much has changed – I knew even before I woke up as a vampire that I'd have to make some changes, and now my whole life as I knew it's over… I just need some time to… to be by myself and figure out who I am now… before I try sticking that person to someone else, you know? I can't fit into the puzzle until I know what my piece looks like."

Edward's poker face cracked at last and broke into a reluctant grin/grimace mix. "I can't fault you for that; but tell me, do you think there's any chance at all that we might, to use your metaphor, fit together again someday?"

"I can't say now," I said regretfully, "but I wouldn't rule it out – someday. You have to give me time first, though; you have to give me my space, and you can't come looking for me."

"I promise. How long?"

I shrugged. "Don't know yet – but you will. When the time's right, I have to think you'll know it. Goodbye, Edward."

"See you around."

Pleased that he wasn't saying goodbye, I stepped forward, closing the slight distance between me and him and held out my hand, palm up. He pressed his against it and our fingers intertwined for one last moment before I pulled away; he didn't resist, letting me go without a fight because he knew I needed to go, and wouldn't if he tried to stop me. I smiled and mouthed 'thank you' over my shoulder as I turned to go… wherever.

"Oh, Bella?" he called after I'd taken no more than five strides. I glanced back, frowning, but all he said was, "As soon as you can stand to be near humans long enough to use a telephone – and can do so without crushing it – you need to call Charlie. I told him what happened... what I had to do to save your life, and I think he understood. He wanted to be with you of course, and while I was unable to convince him that doing so would be a foolish risk and extremely unhelpful, Rosalie, Emmett, and I were able to give him the slip. I imagine he's quite worried – you should put his mind to rest when you can."

I gave a quick nod. "Will do," I promised. Then I ran. I never looked back, and if not for the fact that I would eventually reach a point where land sank into ocean, I thought maybe I would never stop.


	20. Epilogue: Final Farewell

**Here's the epilogue (drum-roll) and now the story's finally finished, with a better ending than the last chapter!**

_**Epilogue: Final Farewell **_

**POV: Edward**

50 Years Later

The cemetery was very nearly abandoned; there was no one to see me leap the ten-foot wrought iron fence, or the rows of graves between me and my destination. I came to a halt underneath an enormous weeping willow, then edged around its trunk to get a better view of the solitary corner, empty except for one grave which had only been filled today and the one mourner left kneeling beside it.

_Alone among the dead_ – a somewhat facetious notion just now, as the sobbing black-clad figure was, some would say, no more living than those who lay six feet beneath her. Of course she wasn't, because if she'd been human she wouldn't be here now; I suspected she'd been shooed out by the caretaker when he locked the gate and then re-entered the same way I had after he'd left.

I stood perfectly still for a while, content just to observe her, to refresh my memory of exactly how beautiful she was; after all, I'd only seen her as she was now for a very brief time – so brief that when I thought of her, as I had so often in the last five decades, it was more often than not her old face that filled my mind. Lovely though that face had been, I couldn't deny that she looked even more stunning now, even with most of her face obscured by her black lace veil and the curtain of dark hair that flowed over her back and shoulders.

Yes, she was certainly the most beautiful creature ever to walk the planet, but wanting to look at her was not my only reason for keeping my distance; the other one was that it would be wrong to intrude on her grief now. Attending the funeral had been fine – as a friend of the deceased, I'd had every right to be there – but forcing my possibly unwanted company on her when she had obviously come here to be alone was completely unacceptable. So I waited until her tearless sobs had quieted before approaching noiselessly; she heard me anyway, as I'd known she would.

"Hello, Edward," she said softly, not looking away from the tombstone or making any move to get up.

I frowned slightly. "You sound as if you were expecting me."

Her hair rippled as she nodded, and then finally turned her face to me, letting me see her eyes for the first time. Relief surged through me at the sight; I'd had too long to reconcile myself to the fact that Bella was a vampire now to be surprised that her eyes were no longer brown, but when I'd seen her from the back during the funeral in her veil, I'd been half afraid that if she raised it, which she never had, her eyes would be blood-red.

Correctly guessing the direction of my thoughts, she narrowed her golden eyes and said, "No, I've never hunted humans, Edward. How could I, when my father's human? Or he was-" Another sob ripped from her throat, choking off her words as she glanced back at the newly engraved headstone.

"I'm sorry, Bella." I stepped forward, resting my hand on her shoulder but not gripping it so she could pull away if she wanted. She didn't; instead, her hand came up to cover mine, squeezing lightly.

"I knew it would happen eventually… That's the part of being a vampire that sucks, you know – watching all the non-vampy people you love die and knowing you really will never see them again 'cause of the immortality thing…"

There were no words of comfort for me to offer in response to that, since everything she'd said was true, so I held my tongue.

Bella spent another seven minutes in the vampire approximation of crying before speaking again. "I did go back, though; after a couple years, when I could control myself around humans, I went back to visit him."

"So you did see him again… then. Just not now."

"No, not now – now I'm seeing you again." She smiled a smile that showed a bit of the old Bella and said, "I'm so happy you came here, Edward, even if it was just to say your own private goodbye to Charlie. He told me you kept in touch with him; I never thought you two would be friends, but I'm glad you were."

"Yes, he was a good friend – one of the best I ever had. Still, I want you to know I never asked him anything about where you were, what you were doing. I gave you your space, as per your request."

"I know you did, and I'm grateful for that. But, Edward…" She hesitated, biting her lip. "…I don't think I need space anymore, if you… you know…"

"That's all I needed to hear." Taking both her hands in mine, I pulled her off the ground and held her close, finally bringing my lips to hers again. By the time our kiss ended, night had fallen completely, leaving the sky black as the satin and silk of Bella's dress. "I'm leaving now; will you come with me?"

"I will, and this time I'll stay with you – as long as you want me to."

"You're talking about forever, you know."

She bent to pick up her hat and put it back on, but pushed the veil off her face. "Forever sounds good to me."

We exited the cemetery the same way we'd entered, by jumping the fence, then once we were out I took her hand and we walked away at a fraction of the speed of which we were capable. Why hurry, when we had all the time in the world?

**There now, was that better? I hope so, since it's really over this time. **

**Now, the acknowledgments for everyone who kept me going on this story or contributed in any way:**

**First and foremost, my cheering squad/editing team, aka Mom and Dad, who deserve a ten-minute standing ovation for the time they've spent acting as sounding boards for my ideas, editing my new chapters for grammar and logic flaws (Mom especially, my work would suck without her), and not giving me grief about the hours I spend typing. I can honestly say I never would've started writing without such a great support system at home.**

**Second (but only slightly), my online support system, aka my fantastic reviewers: november21, Nat (midnightpolaroid), i', andys-lovelytwilight, MigetPanda, Kaname-chan12, forevaluvinEdward, Romance4ever, HorseyGal23, Shiba-san, freedomofabirdswings, TheTwinsAndTheBrother, MashiaraDaiShan, moonifrui, swiss-vampire, eyeglassed cat, NicoleMarin, Kaitlin13, .Windclan, and NatNat95 – your comments made me smile, laugh, occasionally ask for further explanation, and feel like it was worth it to keep writing when the inevitable confidence-ebb hit! You deserve more rounds of applause than I can give you without my hands falling off for keeping me going!**

**Also, thanks to the following people for adding this to their alert subscriptions or favorites list: childishmistake, Poetrygirl98, XFrEaKyDeAkY101X, AMPgirl88, SparkeyGirl, quickbunny01, -menafaye-, ForgottenHeart, freestyler91, LarkenRye, ColorsOfTheSky, SaveTheWolvesOfLaPush, therese23, xLizzyx18, susanpr, random, fanfic writer, babyleoprs, fluteloop22tinkjesusfreak, maka-ama7, PinkPalmTree1989, RoseWithAThorn, runswithvamp, and SEACRETLY-BATMAN – thank you for reading even if you didn't review, because you can't help it if you've got nothing to say… unless, of course, you just didn't want to admit to reading my printed weirdness, in which case I'm sorry if I've embarrassed you – eek! Don't hurt me!**

**Special thanks to forevaluvinEdward for the anti-Jacob comments which gave me the idea for making him the main villain of the piece; before talking to her it was going to be Sam, and I see now that that would've taken the story in whole different (probably more boring) direction.**

**Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll, which I'm closing tonight so you can go to my profile page for the results and what I've decided to do with them. **


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